Boarding School Told Utah Teen To “Suck It Up” Before Treatable Infection Led To Deadly Sepsis

A 17-year-old has died from a treatable abdominal infection in December after being sent to a “therapeutic boarding school” for troubled teens. Now, her family has filed a lawsuit, Law And Crime reports.

On December 20th, Taylor Goodridge died from peritonitis, after staff members at Diamond Ranch Academy the in Hurricane, Utah refused to allow her receive medical attention. Though in rare cases, the infection could require emergency surgery, most cases only require antibiotics. Rather than receiving the help that Goodridge begged for, the teen was accused of “faking it” and told to “suck it up.” The infection led to sepsis, which then spread to all of her vital organs and caused complete organ failure.

According to attorney Alan W. Mortensen, Goodridge’s records at Diamond Ranch state that she “vomited several times for over a week before she died.” She began showing symptoms as early as December 9th, including: back pain, difficulty breathing, and difficulty sleeping due to pain. Prior to her death, the teen vomited at least 14 times, including 7 times in an 11-hour period.

Goodridge’s parents were unable to vouch for their daughter, due to Diamond Ranch canceling phone calls home during the weeks she was sick. It wasn’t until the teen experienced a heart attack that she was taken to a hospital. Sadly, the treatment came too late, and she died hours later.

After retaining a lawyer, parents Dean Goodridge and AmberLynn Wigtion filed for three claims of relief including negligence or knowing and reckless indifference, breach of fiduciary duty, and premises liability. The State of Utah’s Department of Health and Human Services has since placed the facility on probation pending an investigation.

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