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Student hospitalized after drinking alcohol at school
By Lynn Hotaling
A 14-year-old girl spent several days in intensive care after consuming alcohol at school.
According to Capt. Steve Lillard of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the girl received the alcohol from a 15-year-old boy who had brought the alcoholic beverage to school with him.
An ambulance was called to Smoky Mountain High School around 9:25 a.m. last Tuesday (Sept. 19), Lillard said. The girl was unconscious when emergency personnel arrived, he said.
She was transported to Mission Hospitals in Asheville where she remained in the pediatric intensive care unit for two or three days, Lillard said. She has since been released, according to Lillard.
Deputy Jeff Postell, the SMHS resource officer, alerted juvenile authorities due to the age of the students involved, Lillard said. It was not known at press time whether juvenile petitions had been filed, but Lillard indicated the boy was released to his parents’ custody.
It is not known what, if any, disciplinary action was taken against the students or what type of alcohol was involved. School officials were contacted for comment, but Superintendent Sue Nations had not returned The Herald’s call by press time.
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