The mother of a 7-year-old girl who suffered brain damage after choking on a peach at a White Plains daycare center has reached a $475,000 settlement with the center.
Aprilyn Goyzueta of Dobbs Ferry petitioned Westchester Supreme Court on Sept. 27 to approve the deal with Children’s Corner Learning Center.
Her daughter, who is not named in the petition, was 4 when the accident happened on May 11, 2018.
Two teachers, Regina Okaiteye and Sharon Catalano were serving lunches to 14 students, according to White Plains Police reports. Catalano saw the girl pointing to her throat and saw a piece of fruit in her mouth. She administered the Heimlich maneuver but was unable to dislodge the fruit, and she called 911.
When police and medics arrived at the center at 120 Bloomingdale Rd., the girl was lying on the floor, she had no pulse, she was not breathing and her face had turned purple, according to a police report.
Police sergeant Madeline Cano administered CPR. Officer Michael Dawson took over and began ventilating her. He saw an object blocking her airway, and a firefighter used forceps to pull out a large piece of a peach from her lower airway.
They resumed ventilating her and suctioned out vomit and food particles.
The girl was rushed to White Plains Hospital and transferred to Westchester Medical Center for several days.
A MRI confirmed that her brain had been damaged from lack of oxygen, according to the petition.
She was moved to Blythedale Children’s Hospital in Valhalla for 13 months of intensive rehabilitation.
In May 2019, Dr. Alison May, a pediatric neurologist affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, concluded that the girl had made great strides and can be expected to recover more function over time, the petition states, but continues to be impaired.
Goyzueta hired The Rothenberg Law Firm, a Manhattan personal injury specialist, to press a negligence claim.
The law firm negotiated a $475,000 settlement with Selective Insurance Co., the Children’s Corner insurer.
About one-third of the settlement, nearly $160,000, will go to the law firm for fees and expenses.
Another $36,100 will go to Westchester County Department of Medical Services as full satisfaction for medical bills that totaled $428,277.
That leaves $279,396 for the family. A $50,000 check will be issued to Goyzueta for sole use of the benefit of her daughter. The balance, $229,396 will buy an annuity.
Over a 12-year period, from ages 18 to 30, the annuity will pay out $396,152.
Children’s Corner is operated by Center Management Associates Inc., a Tarrytown company that has eight daycare centers in Westchester and Rockland counties.
