Worcester

Family Seeks Answers After Child Dies While Eating Carrots

"How can a child leave the house in the morning, go to school and not come back home?" her godmother asked

The family of a 10-year-old girl who died at an elementary school in Worcester earlier this month while eating continues to search for answers relating to her death.

Marilyn Ofobi Korankyewaa was eating carrots at Belmont Community School when she reportedly began coughing, Worcester News tonight reported. She was taken to UMass Medical Center in Worcester, where she died a few days later due to a lack of oxygen to her brain.

"How is that possible?" asked Nadia Nkansah, Marilyn's godmother. "How can a child leave the house in the morning, go to school and not come back home?"

Ken Asafo-Adjei, Marilyn's uncle, says the information they have recieved doesn't add up, Worcester News Tonight reported. 

He said the family was told the girl ran to the bathroom after she started coughing and was later taken to the hospital. At some point, Marilyn was given CPR, but it was unclear to the family who had administered it.

"The puzzle doesn't go together," Asafo-Adjei said. "How even the CPR was performed, who did it, how long did it take them to do that, who responded?"

Asafo-Adjei is calling on Worcester officials to provide more school funding for CPR and emergency response tools to prevent this type of tragedy from happening again.

Nkansah said Marilyn was an ambitious, intelligent girl who loved to read and preach at her church and wanted to become the first female U.S. president.

"The things this kid has done in life, I haven't even reached a quarter of it as an adult," Nkansah said.

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