Teachers thought a 5-year-old who collapsed during recess was 'playing dead'. They left him for 8 minutes with the delay costing his life, new lawsuit says

• A five-year-old boy died after collapsing during school recess in Connecticut in April 2022.
• Louis' parents have now filed a lawsuit claiming their son's death was avoidable.

A five-year-old boy who teachers thought was "playing dead" during school recess was left unconscious in the playground for eight minutes, and died two days later of a rare heart condition, court documents said.

Now, on the anniversary of his collapse, his parents are suing the town of West Hartford and its board of education. They claimed that educators could have saved his life if they'd acted sooner, according to the lawsuit seen by Insider.

Romeo Pierre Louis was playing freeze tag at his Connecticut elementary school in April 2022 when he suddenly collapsed.

Teachers at Charter Oak International Academy thought he was "playing dead." But when they checked on him eight minutes later they realized he wasn't breathing.

The lawsuit states that other children told the teachers about Louis, but their warnings were ignored.

"By the time the teachers ... realized that Romeo was not playing dead and needed emergency medical treatment — it was too late, and Romeo's life could no longer be saved," the lawsuit said.

Louis was taken to Connecticut Children's Hospital where, despite "significant and extensive efforts to save his life," he died two days later.

Michael L. Chambers Jr., an attorney representing Louis' parents, told The Washington Post that the death was "completely and totally avoidable."

"As any parent who every morning drops their child off at school, there's a certain level of trust we put in teachers' and administrators' hands. And that trust was absolutely broken," he said.

The lawsuit claims that the teachers were negligent in multiple ways.

Louis died of Brugada syndrome, a rare disease that causes irregular heart rhythms. Most people who have the syndrome don't know they have it, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Chambers said Louis' parents were unaware of their son's condition.

According to The Post, other children in the playground thought Louis was pretending to sleep, police said. Teachers checked on his condition after a child told them he was acting strangely. A nurse then tried to resuscitate him using chest compressions and a defibrillator, without success.

"The death of a child is a devastating and unimaginable loss, and our thoughts are with the family and friends of Romeo Pierre Louis," Andrew Morrow, the interim superintendent of West Hartford Public Schools, said in a statement.

He added: "This tragedy has deeply affected the Charter Oak International Academy community."