Category: Randomness

  

Via WSBTV– A local medical examiner has a message for parents following the tragic death of a little girl on a school playground.

Five-year-old Tyrah Debruhl died Monday while playing on the monkey bars during recess.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Chief Medical Examiner Jonathan Eisenstat said parents, teachers, anyone who spots a child standing up or goofing off on a jungle gym should yell at them and tell them to play on it the correct way.

In this case, he said the little girl was stuck and she would have needed immediate help.

Flowers and teddy bears now greet students, faculty and staff as they enter the Newton County Theme School to honor Tyrah, who was a kindergartner at the school.

“She got into a position where she couldn’t lift her own body weight out. Being 5 years old, you don’t have upper body strength to get out of a compromised position like that,” Eisenstat told Channel 2’s Liz Artz.

Yashica Cox told Artz that her mother worked with Tyrah through a school program sponsored by the sheriff’s office. She said her mother’s heart is broken right along with the tight-knit community.

“It actually brought her to tears knowing this little girl died,” Cox said. “It really hurt her knowing somebody’s child is not going home.”

The GBI’s chief medical examiner said he’s never seen an accident like this in his 15-year career.

“This was a freak accident. A horrible, tragic, freak accident. The chances of this happening again are extremely minimal,” Eisenstat said.

He told Artz that Tyrah basically got stuck, cutting off both the blood and air flow. He said someone would have had to have grabbed her immediately from the bars.

“Within a minute. It would have to be fairly quick,” Eisenstat said.

For Cox, she said you can’t have too much supervision.

“Just pay closer attention to your students,” she said. “There are a lot of them, but just pay attention.”

The school district released a statement saying 10 adults were actively supervising the day the incident happened and gave Tyrah medical assistance the minute they realized she was in trouble.

See the video here