A Kentucky high schooler who was sent back to class after he was whacked in the head while breaking up a brawl later suffered a seizure, and died, his distraught family claims.
Henry Clay High School senior Emeka “Emmanuel” Mwakadi, 17, was rushed to the hospital Friday after he suddenly collapsed, Fox 56 reported.
Witnesses said the teen had stepped in to break up a fight in the school bathroom that morning and was hit in the back of his head, the outlet said.
After the fight was broken up, all of the students were sent back to class, where Mwakadi suffered a seizure.
The boy’s mother, Irene Mwele, said she received a call from the school at 10:55 a.m. on Friday alerting her that there had been an emergency, but says she has not heard from the school since.
The school district has also denied that a fight took place.
“The school is like a second family to him, so they are supposed to take responsibility when she’s not around to know,” Mwakadi’s 14-year-old sister, Ndaya, told Lex 18, referring to their mom.
“And she wants to have that communication with them, so they can tell her what happened exactly with her son.”
When the mom arrived at the hospital she “saw a lot of doctors around him trying to save him,” she recalled to the outlet.
The teen’s loved ones say they are now grappling with a tremendous loss.
The teen’s 9-year-old brother Fabien Iyeli said Mwakadi was his best friend and someone he could always turn to for help.
“If I was having a bad mood, he would talk to me. He was like my sibling therapist. He would comfort me sometimes,” he told Lex 18.
His sister agreed, adding that her older brother would always help her with homework or cheer her up if she was in a bad mood.
“Nothing feels the same like it used to,” the teen’s best friend, Modoul Danso, said. “He played a big part in all of our lives. We just miss him. It don’t feel the same anymore.”
“He was never sick, he was an energized person,” he added. “Always had a smile on his face. Kind to everybody. Always moving around. Never had signs of any sickness or anything like that.”
Mwakadi’s family described him as an honest person with a big heart who was on track to graduate high school in two weeks. He had been planning on attending Elizabeth Community and Technology College.
His family, who came to the US from Congo in 2016, is working with Peterson Law Office to investigate.
“They were Congolese nationals that came over through the Catholic Health Mission Activity in 2016, and he has a younger brother and sister. He was just, well-loved, and well-respected. We haven’t heard one negative thing about this young man,” said Justin Peterson, the founding attorney of the law office.
The teen had hoped to become a police officer after graduation, Peterson said.
“And we’ve uncovered through witness testimony and some other things that he had broken up other fights in the school as well. He wanted peace between people. He didn’t want conflict. And so, it is absolutely no surprise to me that that was his ultimate goal.”
A GoFundMe made to cover his funeral expenses described Mwakadi as a “very kind and polite person with great ambitions.”
The fundraiser received over $10,500 in donations by Tuesday afternoon.
