Sleep Apnea Kills
Other People
Driver asleep at the wheel
kills teenager
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Associated Press
HUNTINGTON, N.Y. -- A 15-year-old girl
was struck and killed by a driver suffering from sleep
apnea who dozed off at the wheel, police said.
Blanca Benitez, 15, and her 17-year-old
sister Anna were walking on the sidewalk at about 1 p.m.
Sunday when a 2003 Hummer driven by Gerald Taddonio...jumped
the curb and struck the girls, authorities said.
The younger teenager was pronounced dead
at the scene.
Taddonio, who suffers from
sleep apnea, stopped as soon as he realized
what happened...unlike in the case of narcolepsy -- in
which patients fall asleep with no warning -- Taddonio
was weary because sleep apnea prevented him from getting
a full night's rest.
Every year tens of thousands of people
are involved in accidents because of sleep apnea. Please
take it seriously - "the life you save may be your
own".
CENTER