US student whose dad perished in 9/11 terror attacks chokes to death in pancake-eating contest

A 20-year-old college student whose father was killed in the September 11 attacks has died after choking during a pancake-eating contest.

Police said 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 a junior majoring in social work at the Roman Catholic school in Fairfield.

“It’s a tragic event that started out as something fun,” said Fairfield police Lt. Bob Kalamaras.“It was just a tragic accident.”

When Nelson started choking at the contest, two nursing students who were there immediately began lifesaving measures and were quickly joined by police officers and paramedics, Kalamaras said. She was taken to a hospital in Bridgeport in critical but stable condition and transferred on Friday to New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Centre.

Several thousand people gathered on the Sacred Heart campus Sunday night to remember Nelson, a member of the Kappa Delta sorority, and share their grief. A Mass dedicated to her was followed by an impromptu candlelight vigil.

Nelson’s father, James Nelson, was a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police officer killed in the September 11 attacks in Manhattan. The 40-year-old was killed while trying to rescue people trapped in the World Trade Centre. His obituary said he was survived by two daughters, 11-year-old Anne and 5-year-old Caitlin.