GILBERT, Ariz. (KPHO/Gray News) – A high school is refusing to honor a student’s “do not resuscitate” medical order even though the student’s doctors said that CPR would likely do more harm than good.
Gilbert Public Schools leaders said they want nothing to do with 17-year-old Rigo Jackson’s DNR because they cannot stand by and not try to save a student who goes into cardiac arrest.
While no parent wants to plan for their child’s life to end, parents like Susie and Brett Jackson, who are raising medically complex children, have no choice but to plan for that part of their reality.
“He’s just brought so much joy to our family,” Susie Jackson said.
The Jacksons adopted Rigo in 2020.
“School has always been a really important part of his life,” Susie Jackson said.
Rigo should be a senior at Gilbert High School, but Susie and Brett Jackson have reluctantly kept him out of school this year.
“We are fighting for everything we can do for the best life that he can live,” Susie Jackson said.
Brett Jackson said it is “disappointing” because the district has not reached out to learn more about why.
Rigo is nonverbal, eats through a permanent feeding tube and has extremely weak muscle tone. Because of the health issues Rigo faces, his doctors recommended instating a DNR order. That means if Rigo’s heart were to stop, there should be no CPR to try to save him.
“I think people’s knee-jerk reaction is how could you not do everything possible to save the life of your child, and what they don’t understand is that compressions on his body would not essentially save his life. It may restart his heart, but the end result is likely going to be the same, and it’s just going to cause a traumatic death for him,” Susie Jackson said.
Rigo has attended Gilbert Public Schools since the 6th grade, but his DNR order is new this year.
“It is an unlikely chance that it would happen at school, but if it were to happen at school, just like if he were to have a seizure at school, we have an action plan in place,” Susie Jackson said.
During a school board meeting on Tuesday, she said if Rigo went into cardiac arrest, chest compressions would seriously hurt him or even kill him.
“Now, when we are asking you to honor his physician’s order, orders that only affect him, you are refusing. You allow for many orders to be followed, feeding tubes, action plans, G2 tubes. Why not this? This is an action item,” Susie Jackson told school board members. “This is a child who grew up in the foster system with few adults, is now experiencing the trauma of adults failing him again.”
A district spokesperson said this is not the first time the district has dealt with this issue, but they do not have an official policy regarding DNR orders.
“We can work with parents to create a plan where our staff call emergency services and safely move the student to a more private location, where our staff are still required to provide emergency treatment while awaiting the arrival of emergency services, at which point care decisions are handed over to the emergency medical professionals on site,” said the spokesperson.
Under Arizona state law, school staff are not obligated to recognize DNR orders.
“I think the concern is honestly more for staff and other students than it is on him. It’s how would they respond to this,” Susie Jackson said. “This should be the best time of his life right now, and they’ve taken that from him by not honoring his wishes.”