COLLEGE PARK, Fla. – The College Park Middle School student who passed away shortly after getting on a school bus in April died of natural causes, according to officials.
The Orange County Medical Examiner said that Jasiel Sanders, 15, died from bilateral pulmonary thromboembolism due to deep vein thromboses with a contributory factor of obesity that resulted in blood clots affecting his lungs.
During a news conference in May, Sanders’ family said they were not aware of any pre-existing medical conditions.
According to the family’s attorney, Greg Francis, Sanders’ sister was also on the bus. She noticed he was having trouble breathing and asked the bus driver to call for help.
The family says the driver asked if the student was faking the illness and told his sister to sit down and continued driving for about another mile before calling 911.
“We would like to make sure that the protocol includes response to emergency medical conditions such as what occurred,” Francis said in a news conference. “Minutes, even seconds count any time there is an emergency situation where measures could have been taken to give Jasiel a better chance to live.”
In a release from Francis’ law firm, the family’s attorney explained that Sanders was taken to the hospital and was ultimately pronounced dead.
Orange County Public Schools spokesman Michael Ollendorf said that the district’s Office of Professional Standards is still conducting an internal review of the incident. The Orlando Police Department confirmed that this incident was deemed a medical event and is not under investigation by law enforcement, according to a statement released by OCPS in May.
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