A Staten Island family is mourning the sudden death of a seven-year-old boy who went into anaphylactic shock on Halloween. Joseph DeNicola subsequently went into cardiac arrest and died on Tuesday at Staten Island University Hospital. His father said, "I was out trick-or-treating with Joseph on Friday and now I'm at the hospital planning his funeral."
The boy's father, Anthony DeNicola, said that Joseph had asthma and other allergies and, on Friday, October 31st, the second grader was given an asthma treatment by the school nurse. The Staten Island Advance reports:
Joseph and his father went trick-or-treating with friends and relatives on Friday and then continued on to a Halloween party at a relative's house. His father said that Joseph didn't eat anything that would have triggered an attack. Joseph wasn't feeling well and he started coughing, so DeNicola took the youngster home and treated him with various medications prescribed for treating allergic reactions.
Joseph seemed "like he couldn't breathe, he was gasping for air," so DeNicola grabbed his son and alerted a neighbor. The three rushed in DeNicola's car a short distance to Staten Island University Hospital in Prince's Bay.
Doctors told DeNicola that Joseph went into anaphylactic shock and had a heart attack, the father said.
"They started working on him and all of a sudden he went into cardiac arrest," DeNicola said. "His heart stopped for about 20 minutes to a half hour."
DeNicola decided to donate his son's organs and family friends are rallying together to raise money for burial expenses. A cousin told the Advance, "Joseph was the sweetest, purest kid I ever met in my life."
