School Denies Wrongdoing In Student’s Choking Death In Fairfield

FAIRFIELD, CT — Sacred Heart University is denying any wrongdoing in the tragic choking death of a 20-year-old student after a pancake eating contest in 2017. Lawyers for the university said in a response to the family’s lawsuit that Caitlin Nelson’s death was caused by her own “carelessness and negligence.” Nelson choked while participating in an on-campus, school-sanctioned pancake-eating contest for charity on March 30, 2017, and died three days later. The family filed the lawsuit against Sacred Heart University last October and is seeking to raise awareness of the preventable dangers associated with amateur eating competitions, according to lawyers.

The lawsuit claims that Sacred Heart not only approved the contest and the use of pancakes, which the complaint says is a particularly dangerous food to eat quickly, but it also failed to have medical personnel on-site in the event a student started choking.

"Moments after the contest began, Caitlin began struggling to breathe and police officers were called to provide emergency medical care," lawyers previously said in a news release announcing the lawsuit. "Responding officers described finding a mass of pancake paste 'like concrete' in Caitlin's airway, which was impossible to dislodge. Caitlin passed away three days later."

Sacred Heart denies all allegations in response to the lawsuit, according to court documents filed this week. In the response, lawyers wrote the lawsuit “fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.”

Lawyers also wrote that Nelson’s injuries “were caused in whole or in part” by her own “carelessness and negligence in that she: a. failed to investigate and/or research the purported risks of eating contests and/or eating contests involving pancakes; b. failed to educate herself on purported safe eating contest techniques and purportedly unsafe techniques, including ‘chipmunking;’ c. failed to exercise reasonable caution before and during the eating contest; d. failed to maintain proper and appropriate use of her senses; and e. failed to exercise proper judgment before and during the eating contest.”

Nelson, whose father was a Port Authority police officer killed on 9/11, planned to obtain a Master of Social Work upon graduating from Sacred Heart. Her goal was to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and work within the medical field, specifically with children suffering from serious illnesses, according to the family’s lawyers. Nelson also devoted her time to the Resiliency Center of Newtown, working with children affected by the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Read Sacred Heart University’s full response to the family’s lawsuit here.