News

Actions

College student dies after choking at pancake-eating contest

Posted

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A 20-year-old Connecticut college student whose father was killed in the Sept. 11 attacks has died after choking during a pancake-eating contest.

Police say Caitlin Nelson died at a New York City hospital on Sunday, three days after participating in the contest at Sacred Heart University. She was from Clark, New Jersey, and was majoring in social work at the Catholic school in Fairfield.

Officials say the contest was part of a fraternities and sororities event.

Fairfield police say nursing students and first responders performed lifesaving measures, and Nelson was taken to a hospital in critical condition. She was moved to a New York hospital on Friday.

Students remembered Nelson during a candlelight vigil on campus Sunday.

Her father, James, was a Port Authority police officer who died on 9/11.