By Michael Morton
The same type of peppermint ended up fatally lodged in her 4-year-old daughter's throat, too, despite her husband's desperate struggle to free it last Thursday.”I still can't believe it happened,” a numb Festus Morrison said from the family's home on Benton Street Saturday as his wife shopped for a funeral dress for Ashely Morrison, their little girl. “Last night I slept in her spot, praying for some miracle.” After 5-year-old Jocelys Santiago of the Bronx choked to death on one of the candies May 10, Johnson heard about the tragedy and wanted to call her husband last Thursday to alert him. Instead, the home health aide had to take one of her patients to the hospital.Meanwhile, Festus Morrison, a unionized construction worker, was installing drywall at a neighbor's house as his daughter tried to help. She asked to have a peppermint that was sitting on the counter.”I didn't think that candy was that dangerous,” he said of the three-quarter inch Jumbo Mint Ball made by Colombina, noting that his daughter “knew how to eat candy.”Ashely began choking, however. “She tapped me on the shoulder,” Morrison said. “I screamed.” He looked down her throat but did not see anything and could not get the candy out by performing the Heimlich Maneuver. Efforts to give the 4-year-old CPR by Morrison and his neighbor also failed. Medics arrived after they called 911 and tried to save her, but she was taken to Jamaica's Mary Immaculate Hospital and pronounced dead.The official cause of death was still pending as of Monday, but the medical examiner's office told Morrison there was probably nothing he could have done once the candy got lodged. Still, the construction worker, used to dangerous environments and quick responses, blamed himself.”I couldn't stop it,” he said. “She was right there in my hands and I couldn't stop it.” Morrison noted he held a risky job. “Why her and not me?” he asked.Morrison described his daughter as a smart kid who liked numbers and loved to dance. She was always by his side, making her 10-year-old brother jealous of the tight bond she enjoyed with her father. She would open her father's eyes with her fingers when he tried to nap and decided what they should watch on television. Morrison, for his part, protected his daughter and would not let her be driven around by others.Hard candy should be kept away from children until they are 4 years old, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics' Web site. A 3-year-old Briarwood boy died in August after choking on popcorn, another hazardous item. Morrison called for the peppermint's maker to stop producing the large candy, which did not have a warning label. While no federal or state laws require such a disclosure, City Councilwoman Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) said she would work with the manufacturer to get the warning placed.Ashely was scheduled to be buried in Cambria Heights' Montefiore Cemetery after her funeral Tuesday.”She was one great kid,” Morrison said. “She was everybody's light in this area here.”Reach reporter Michael Morton by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
