Youth facility officials don't know cause of teen's death

[Fight2Survive]

Youth facility officials don't know cause of teen's death
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By ANA X. CERON

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Officials are awaiting autopsy results to determine what caused the death of a teen at a juvenile facility last week.

Sixteen-year-old Kevin Christie was playing basketball with a group of boys at the Eckerd Youth Development Center in Okeechobee and collapsed as he was helping a boy who fell, said Robert Patterson, operations director for the facility.Christie bent over to help the boy up, then fell on his back, Patterson said Tuesday. Once on the ground he lifted himself up a little, as if he were gasping for air, Patterson said.

Staff at the center rushed to administer CPR and an ambulance transported him to Raulerson Hospital, where he died between 6:30 and 7 p.m. Friday, Patterson said.

An autopsy was done Saturday, and officials are waiting on its findings to learn what caused the teen's death, Patterson said.

Christie was admitted to the Eckerd Youth Development Center about 2 p.m. on Nov. 6. He had been transferred after serving a year at Orient Road Jail in Tampa, Patterson said.

Christie was originally from Jamaica but had been living in Riverview with a family friend, Patterson said.

Patterson said grief counselors were available to talk with the boys and the staff at the center about what had happened.

"It was really a total shock for the boys and the staff for this to happen," he said.
http://http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/11/11/1111okteen.html

[Pile of Dead Kids]

So a kid just mysteriously, suddenly died?

That was 2008. Any explanation yet, other than "he just died"? Any coroner- well, any coroner who isn't being bribed or coerced, anyway- will tell you that teenagers just don't mysteriously keel over dead, splat.

Although I like the idea that he could go "wait, I'm in a fucking program aren't I" and just instantly decide to cease living.

[Whooter]

So a kid just mysteriously, suddenly died?

That was 2008. Any explanation yet, other than "he just died"? Any coroner- well, any coroner who isn't being bribed or coerced, anyway- will tell you that teenagers just don't mysteriously keel over dead, splat.

Although I like the idea that he could go "wait, I'm in a fucking program aren't I" and just instantly decide to cease living.

So the latest definition of abuse is forcing the kids to play Basketball.  At least the abusive ways have improved from being forced to sit in a hobbit to playing basketball.  Pretty soon Friday night pizza and a movie will be considered abusive. lol



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[Eliscu2]

Adderall XR causes "sudden death" in Children and Teens.
It has been banned in Canada, but our very own FDA says it's o.k. to give to Americans.
Remember Columbine?
Those kides were on anti-depressents that now carry a "Black-Box" label.
What most people do not know is that phase 5 of a clinical drug tial is YOU the GENERAL PUBLIC.
Phase 1 is only 8 weeks at the very maximum.
These medications are given to children at alarming rates here in the U.S.
ESPECIALLY kids in the care of the STATE or poor kids on Medicaid.
Psych meds cause a miriad of side-effects the most common being suicidal ideation and violence.
You don't hear that on the T.V. commercials do you?
Whenever I hear about an incident like this I wonder................................... :suicide:

[Anne Bonney]

So a kid just mysteriously, suddenly died?

That was 2008. Any explanation yet, other than "he just died"? Any coroner- well, any coroner who isn't being bribed or coerced, anyway- will tell you that teenagers just don't mysteriously keel over dead, splat.

Although I like the idea that he could go "wait, I'm in a fucking program aren't I" and just instantly decide to cease living.

So the latest definition of abuse is forcing the kids to play Basketball.

Where did you see anyone say that??  Stop putting words in others' mouths.  Seriously, you do it all the time.

Now, that adderall concern seems a valid one.  I don't like the idea of doping kids up to manage them, but that's a much bigger issue than just inside the TTI.

[Ursus]

Here's another news bit that also came out that same day:

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WPTV
State investigating why teen died at Okeechobee detention facility
Posted November 11, 2008 at 6:26 a.m.

OKEECHOBEE — State officials are investigating what led to a teen's death at an Okeechobee detention facility.

The 16-year-old had only been there for 24 hours when he suddenly collapsed. Kevin Christie collapsed while playing basketball Friday at the Eckerd Youth Development Center in Okeechobee.

He died a short time later at Raulerson Hospital in Okeechobee.

Christie had arrived at the facility just 24 hours earlier.

He, like every other inmate here, went through a physical that revealed no medical problems.


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One Comment was left:

schladmin writes, November 11, 2008 10:28 a.m.:

Maybe the state should be looking at the amount of drugs that finds its way into this facility. Its easy to do, ask to the see the positive drug test history's on kids,staff brings it in all the times. Not just marijuana but pills exstasy,etc. maybe the kid got hold of bad stuff that was passed around. since the Supervisor determines what is a crime or not no wonder the local pd doesnt know the problems here

[Whooter]

So a kid just mysteriously, suddenly died?

That was 2008. Any explanation yet, other than "he just died"? Any coroner- well, any coroner who isn't being bribed or coerced, anyway- will tell you that teenagers just don't mysteriously keel over dead, splat.

Although I like the idea that he could go "wait, I'm in a fucking program aren't I" and just instantly decide to cease living.

So the latest definition of abuse is forcing the kids to play Basketball.

Where did you see anyone say that??  Stop putting words in others' mouths.  Seriously, you do it all the time.

Where did it state (or was insinuated), in the article, that the coroner is being bribed or coerced.  I guess you skimmed on over that statement... lol.  The kid was playing Basketball and then died.  We have a couple kids in this state alone that this has happened to, but no reports of coroners being bribed have surfaced nor do people suspect this.  This seems to be a fornits thing.  The same as abuse seems to take on its own definition here also.  But I think you know that.



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[Anne Bonney]

Where did it state (or was insinuated), in the article, that the coroner is being bribed or coerced.  I guess you skimmed on over that statement... lol.  

No, I saw it.  I just didn't see where anyone said, or implied, that playing basketball was abuse.

The kid was playing Basketball and then died.  We have a couple kids in this state alone that this has happened to, but no reports of coroners being bribed have surfaced nor do people suspect this.  This seems to be a fornits thing.  The same as abuse seems to take on its own definition here also.  But I think you know that.

We question whether or not there was adequate care, not that playing basketball was abusive in and of itself....but you knew that already.  And I plainly stated that I think this is a much bigger issue than just within the TTI.  But you already knew that.

[Ursus]

Kevin Christie collapsed while playing basketball Friday at the Eckerd Youth Development Center in Okeechobee.

There was a kid at Hyde, 14-year old James Roman, who also collapsed while playing basketball, and later died as well. His former roommate posted here a while back. From what I gather, which may or may not be the whole story although it is certainly believable, Roman died of a brain aneurysm, exasperated by or brought on by an enlarged heart.

I guess the question which most concerns me, presuming there was no foul play or aberrant medication issues in either of these cases (info on this being absent), is ... did these kids receive medical attention in time? Or was it delayed a bit, 'cuz of program issues? And if so, might this delay have caused a critical difference in outcome?

I can recall, from my time at Hyde, that not only were kids sometimes pushed to extreme levels of exertion (the "fate of your soul" depended on how hard you could push yourself), but oft times quite serious injuries were sloughed off as "faking" or malingering. They would even convince you to not take your injuries seriously.

[Whooter]

No, I saw it. I just didn't see where anyone said, or implied, that playing basketball was abuse.

Exactly, thank you, so you also didnt see where anyone said, in the article, that the coroner was being bribed or coerced.  



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[Whooter]

Kevin Christie collapsed while playing basketball Friday at the Eckerd Youth Development Center in Okeechobee.

There was a kid at Hyde, 14-year old James Roman, who also collapsed while playing basketball, and later died as well. His former roommate posted here a while back. From what I gather, which may or may not be the whole story although it is certainly believable, Roman died of a brain aneurysm, exasperated by or brought on by an enlarged heart.

I guess the question which most concerns me, presuming there was no foul play or aberrant medication issues in either of these cases (info on this being absent), is ... did these kids receive medical attention in time? Or was it delayed a bit, 'cuz of program issues? And if so, might this delay have caused a critical difference in outcome?

I can recall, from my time at Hyde, that not only were kids sometimes pushed to extreme levels of exertion (the "fate of your soul" depended on how hard you could push yourself), but oft times quite serious injuries were sloughed off as "faking" or malingering. They would even convince you to not take your injuries seriously.

Time....That’s a fair concern.  I could see staff reacting a little less intensely to kids in a program than say kids on a regular high school team.  The staff may be use to kids (or desensitized) to kids faking injuries etc. to get out some duties perhaps.  What would a childs motive be to fake an injury in highschool basket ball… 911 would be called more quickly because it doesn’t happen as often and taken at face value with having to eliminate the possibility of the child faking it which could cause a few minutes or seconds to be lost in call for help, maybe.

So I could see time as a factor.



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[Anne Bonney]

No, I saw it. I just didn't see where anyone said, or implied, that playing basketball was abuse.

Exactly, thank you, so you also didnt see where anyone said, in the article, that the coroner was being bribed or coerced.  



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Yes, I saw that.....still doesn't mean that anyone implied that having the kids play basketball was abusive.  What it implied was that there's a possibility that there was not adequate care or supervision.  Stop twisting what people say.

[Whooter]

No, I saw it. I just didn't see where anyone said, or implied, that playing basketball was abuse.

Exactly, thank you, so you also didnt see where anyone said, in the article, that the coroner was being bribed or coerced.  



...

Yes, I saw that.....still doesn't mean that anyone implied that having the kids play basketball was abusive.  What it implied was that there's a possibility that there was not adequate care or supervision.  Stop twisting what people say.

.. the words used were bribed and coerced in reference to the coroner.



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[Anne Bonney]

.. the words used were bribed and coerced in reference to the coroner.

Yes, but it still doesn't explain how you are conflating that with "us" saying that having kids play basketball is abusive.  No one said it but you insisted that we did.

[Whooter]

.. the words used were bribed and coerced in reference to the coroner.

Yes, but it still doesn't explain how you are conflating that with "us" saying that having kids play basketball is abusive.  No one said it but you insisted that we did.

Pile used the words bribed and coerced in regard to the coroner.  If there was some history of this coroner being bribed then I could see the concern.  but this was never established.  People allow comments like this to get passed through and accepted at face value while others like Basketball is abusive does not.

So the reader can easily see the double standard of which implied statement got picked out for review.  This in itself is interesting.



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