Pancake-eating contest ends in tragedy at Sacred Heart

[spaminator]

Pancake-eating contest ends in tragedy at Sacred Heart
Dave Collins, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Monday, April 03, 2017 10:54 AM EDT | Updated: Monday, April 03, 2017 12:37 PM EDT
HARTFORD, Conn. — A 20-year-old college student whose father was killed in the Sept. 11 attacks has died after choking during a pancake-eating contest.
Police said Caitlin Nelson died at a New York City hospital on Sunday, three days after participating in the contest at Sacred Heart University. She was from Clark, N.J., and was a junior majoring in social work at the Roman Catholic school in Fairfield.
“It’s a tragic event that started out as something fun,” said Fairfield police Lt. Bob Kalamaras.“It was just a tragic accident.”
When Nelson started choking at the contest, two nursing students who were there immediately began lifesaving measures and were quickly joined by police officers and paramedics, Kalamaras said. She was taken to a hospital in Bridgeport in critical but stable condition and transferred on Friday to New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center.
Several thousand people gathered on the Sacred Heart campus Sunday night to remember Nelson, a member of the Kappa Delta sorority, and share their grief. A Mass dedicated to her was followed by an impromptu candlelight vigil.
Nelson’s father, James Nelson, was a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police officer killed in the Sept. 11 attacks in Manhattan. The 40-year-old was killed while trying to rescue people trapped in the World Trade Center. His obituary said he was survived by two daughters, 11-year-old Anne and five-year-old Caitlin.
School officials said counselling services were being provided.
“The SHU community is mourning today,” the school said in a statement Monday. “We ask that during this time you give Caitlin’s family and the members of the SHU community privacy while they grieve.”
According to her LinkedIn page, Caitlin was certified in youth mental health first aid and volunteered at the Resiliency Center of Newtown, a non-profit group that provides free counselling and other services to people affected by the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed 20 children and six educators.
Funeral services have not been announced.
Pancake-eating contest ends in tragedy at Sacred Heart | World | News | Toronto

 

[tay]

I've never understood the desire to be in a food eating contests but so be it........


Man who choked to death at Voodoo Doughnut identified

The father of the man who choked to death in the lobby of Voodoo Doughnut on East Colfax Avenue early Sunday morning describes him as an "energetic and open-minded person" with an infectious laugh.

"It's tragic," Curtis Malouff said. "It's a loss of life that shouldn't be."

Travis Malouff, 42, died from "asphyxia, due to obstruction of the airway," the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner announced Monday morning.

Police and paramedics were first called to the doughnut shop in the 1500 block of Colfax at around 1:30 a.m. Sunday after receiving a report Malouff was choking.

The manager at the shop confirmed to 9NEWS a person died in their lobby, but wouldn't say anything else. Witnesses say Malouff was doing a doughnut challenge before he died.

The challenge is to eat a half-pound doughnut in 80 seconds or less.

Two people who were inside at the time say people rushed to help the man when they realized he was choking, but they couldn't perform the Heimlich maneuver.

"They tried so hard to do everything. It was clear that nobody was trained and they were just reacting," a witness said. "You [have to]do something I think."

Food challenges are popular throughout Colorado and come with rewards that range from bragging rights to free food for life.

Beau Jo's pizza offers $100 and two free T-shirts to any two people who can finish a 14-pound pie. While Jack-n-Grill offers free food for life to any woman who can finish its seven-pound breakfast burrito.

"It’s too much food for one person, even as the size that he was," witness Julia Edelstein said. "That’s too much for someone to eat. He was trying to force it down."

Denver Police say Malouff's death does not appear to be suspicious, but they won't say anything more than that.

Man who choked to death at Voodoo Doughnut identified | 9news.com

 

[tay]

What a shame......


Caitlin Nelson