Death occurs in just a few short minutes when breathing is compromised...

Testimonials by Bereaved Parents

"...They had restrained him and he had "passed out"..." My wife Jane and I have five childen. The three oldest are "normal" or "neuro-typical" to use the current term. Our fourth child David is autistic. He is 23, living at home and attending a day program. Our youngest son Jason was a very bright, active boy. His IQ was around 150. He had a problem with school. He would act out and cause distractions in class. We felt, and still feel that he was bored and unchallenged by the school system. This was a kid who by the age of 12 had read every Tom Clancey book written along with most of Michael Chrichton's books.

Because of his behavior problems and our refusal to have him put on ritalin or other medications, he was on homebound instruction for about a year while a suitable school placement could be found. He was finally placed in a facility against our wishes. He went there on May 11, 1993. The following evening when I got home from work our oldest son Rick told me that the facility had called and said that they had a problem with Jason and that I should call them back. They forgot to leave a number.

I got a number from directory assistance, which must have been the main office because no one answered the phone there. About an hour later, I got a second call from the facility. The person said that Jason had been involved in an argument in the dining hall and they had restrained him and that he had "passed out." (I found out later that the person who called was the person who had restrained Jason.) They had sent him to a local hospital and we should call there to find out any further information.

When I called the hospital, I found out that he had not "passed out." His heart had stopped. He was airlifted to Children's Hospital where he died. He was 12 at the time.

It was not until the following week, when the medical examiner declared the death a homicide that the police were notified. One of the people involved in the restraint was tried for involuntary manslaughter, but acquitted. The jury felt it was an accident. A civil case against the facility was settled out of court. The civil suit against our local school district is still going on. When we settled our civil suit we were under the impression that ours was a unique situation. In fact, the attorneys for the facility even stated "at least we know that a tragedy like this will never happen again."

Shortly after that a friend from Connecticut told us of the Andrew McClain case. That case, as you may know led to the Hartford Courant's special report on restraint deaths. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "At least we know that a tragedy like this will never happen again." WRONG!! In December of 1998, another youth aged 14 died at the same facility after being restrained. Ironically, this young man lived about 20 miles from where we live. This time the county prosecutor decided not to press charges. He didn't want to lose another case, and he felt it would adversely affect the employment possibilities of the people involved.