Teacher Suffers Anaphylactic Shock After So-Called Prank by Students

Teacher Suffers Anaphylactic Shock After So Called Prank by Students

An art teacher nearly died after three middle schoolers decided to play a prank on her using her severe food allergy – bananas.

  • By Kaitlyn DeHaven
  • August 05, 2019

An art teacher at Starling K-8 who suffers from a severe banana allergy almost died after some of her students played a so-called “prank” on her in November 2018.

The teacher’s door has signs stating “Banana Free Zone,” and all students are instructed to wash their hands if they’ve eaten a banana that day before entering the classroom. All of the students are aware that if the teacher were to touch a banana, she would have a severe allergic reaction.

“All of the kids know she’s deathly allergic to bananas,” the security officer told the police. “If it touches her, she will go into anaphylactic shock.”

Last year, three seventh-graders decided to smear banana on the teacher’s door, doorknob, and then threw bananas at her while she was inside the classroom. Within 15 minutes, the teacher was in anaphylactic shock. They gave her an EpiPen, but it didn’t work, so they gave her another EpiPen as her throat started to close up.

"That could be attempted murder," a Columbus City Schools (CSS) security officer is heard telling Columbus Police officers in a body camera video. “They’re definitely going down for expulsion.”

The teacher has recovered since the incident.

The three students were all sentenced to probation through juvenile court. Felonious assaults on teachers have increased in 2019, with teachers being the target of 30 since this January.

About the Author

Kaitlyn DeHaven is the Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

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