DELTONA, Fla. – The family of a Deltona High School student announced on Thursday they plan to sue the Volusia County School District and the school nurse that refused to administer the student's inhaler during an asthma attack because a signature was missing on his medical release.
"It's like something out of a horror film. The person just sits there and watches you die," said Michael Rudi, 17. "She sat there, looked at me and she did nothing."
Sue Rudi says her son, Michael, could have died Friday when he started having an asthma attack and the school administrators had confiscated his inhaler.
"How can you watch a human being who is suffocating and do nothing?" Rudi said.
The Rudi's attorney said the family wants the school nurse suspended and they plan to file a suit against the district, the nurse and even the sheriff's office for failing to fully investigate.
"If this isn't a clear case of child abuse I don't know what would be," said the attorney.
But school district spokeswoman Nancy Wait said state law requires administrators to confiscate undocumented prescription medication.
"The way that it is being portrayed is not the way that it happened," Wait said. She also said an administrator and nurse monitored Michael at all times.
"They were never asked to call 911 if they had been asked they would have if they felt that the student was in need they would have," Wait said.
The school's spokeswoman said Michael started to have some difficulty breathing but was never "on the floor suffocating."
The school district said they encourage all parents to make sure they file the proper paperwork each year.
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