The parents of an eight-year-old girl who choked to death at school have released distressing surveillance footage showing her final moments in the cafeteria.
Recorded on April 15, the video shows Adrian Thompson approaching a school employee while struggling to breathe before running through the corridors in apparent panic.
Her parents made the footage from Velma Penny Elementary School in Lindale, East Texas, public as they seek answers about why staff members did not do more to assist her.
Texas Rangers previously found no wrongdoing by Velma Penny staff, and no charges were filed in connection with Adrian’s death.
‘We feel like people need to know about this,’ her mother, Anna Thompson told KHOU 11.
The footage shows Adrian leaving her lunch table at about 11.40am, coughing into a napkin with both hands held near her throat.
Surveillance video released at her parents’ request captures the moments before eight-year-old Adrian choked to death in her school cafeteria
Adrian Thompson, eight, ran toward an adult for help as she choked, according to the footage. Her parents continue to question why school staff did not do more to assist her
A few seconds later, she walked up to an unidentified woman and tapped her on the arm.
The Texas Rangers’ report said the employee thought Adrian was ill and directed her toward a trash can.
According to the report, the woman then asked Adrian ‘if she wanted to go to the restroom’. The girl indicated that she did.
The staff member subsequently directed Adrian out of the cafeteria through its double doors, the report stated.
The Texas Rangers report, however, does not describe what happened immediately afterward.
Surveillance video shows Adrian re-entering the cafeteria just 13 seconds later and seeking help from the same employee.
Clearly distressed, Adrian waved her arms frantically as she approached the woman.
The adult appeared to direct Adrian toward the exit and followed as the girl left the cafeteria once again.
Footage from the school corridors then shows Adrian running toward the nurse’s office.
The Texas Rangers report said Adrian approached the nurse while ‘pointing to her mouth and trying to speak’. She then ‘began turning blue in the face’, according to the report.
After struggling in the cafeteria, Adrian ran through the school corridor toward the nurse’s office
Adrian’s heartbroken parents released the footage while questioning why school employees did not do more to help save their daughter’s life. She died during the early hours of April 16
Adrian’s parents said they are ‘heartbroken’ following her death. She was eight years old
The nurse said she performed the Heimlich maneuver on Adrian, but she collapsed. She then checked for a pulse and began performing CPR on the child.
There is no surveillance from inside the nurse’s office showing Adrian’s collapse.
Troubling video from the school entrance shows medics performing chest compressions on Adrian as she is wheeled out of the building at 11.55am.
She was rushed to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, where she died during the early hours of April 16.
Her parents have launched a fundraiser to cover the medical bills involved in Adrian’s emergency care, including a life flight to Dallas as medics attempted to save her life.
‘Our daughter, Adrian, passed away on 4/15,’ they wrote on the fundraising page.
‘She was eight years old. We are heartbroken. She was loved beyond words, and our lives will never be the same’.
The Daily Mail has approached Velma Penny Elementary School for comment.