"In the process of removing food from the airways, gimbap and rice cakes came out, and the doctor said that 4-5 cm-sized garae-tteok seemed to be the main cause of airway obstruction."
Regarding the case of the death of his 20-year-old son sent to a welfare facility for the disabled in Incheon, his father, Jang Mo, said in a media call today (24th), "I clearly asked the facility not to feed the child if he doesn't like it." Even so, (the staff) forced the child to eat as if he were a criminal.”
Jang said that his son, A, who is severely disabled, stayed at this welfare facility for about 2 to 2 hours and 30 minutes, three times a week.
In the reality that outside activities for people with severe disabilities like Mr. A are not easy, there was a judgment that if they went to a welfare facility, they would be relatively free.
Jang said, "I told the director the purpose of my visit, and I took good care of it at home, and the facility told me not to feed the child if he didn't like it. and explained.
He then swallowed his resentment, saying, "I watched the closed circuit (CC) TV of the facility, I didn't chew food because I didn't want to eat it, and I kept dragging and dragging the child who was desperately trying to run away crying, and forcibly fed him."
CCTV recorded a scene where Mr. A showed behavior as if he did not want to eat, such as hitting himself on the cheek for about 5 minutes from 11:39 am to 44 am on the 6th, but was led by a facility worker and then ate.
There is also a scene where workers feed food such as tteokbokki and gimbap while pressing Mr. A's shoulder with their arms, and there is also a scene where Mr. A refuses to eat and moves to another room and collapses.
At the time of the accident, it was found that there were two facility workers who helped with meals and one social service worker around A.
Jang claimed, "The female employee ate 3 tteokbokki in the form of 4-5 cm in size without dipping or chopping them in water."
It was also revealed that the welfare facility provided food such as kimbap and tteokbokki to Mr. A and the other disabled people, which differed from the meal plan on the day.
The August menu at this welfare facility lists beef seaweed soup, beef bulgogi, steamed egg, and lettuce wrap as meals for the 6th day.
Regarding the regular diet, the bereaved family pointed out that foods inappropriate for the severely disabled were provided, such as gimbap, which is difficult for people with disabilities to eat in one bite, or tteokbokki in the form of sticky rice cakes.
Person A collapsed during lunch on the day of the incident and was taken to a nearby hospital, receiving first aid such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
After receiving a diagnosis of brain death at the doctor's opinion that there was airway obstruction due to food, he received life-sustaining treatment for 6 days, and finally died on the 12th.
The police requested an autopsy of Mr. A's body to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences, and received a verbal opinion that it was "presumed to be asphyxiation".
As of today, more than 17,000 people have agreed to the petition that Jang posted, complaining about his son's unfair death, and the manager is reviewing whether to disclose it or not.
Jang said, "If you look at the behavior of the employees, there must have been abuse of forcibly feeding them not only on the day of the accident but also before that. Severe punishment should be imposed on the employees," he insisted.
Yeonsu-gu, Incheon City has requested the Incheon Advocacy Agency for the Rights of the Disabled to investigate whether there was any work-related negligence or abuse related to Mr. A's death, while excluding two facility workers from work.
An official from Yeonsu-gu said, "The facility said that it would accept the disposition according to the results of the investigation by the disabled organization and the police."
(Photo=Provided by the bereaved family of the deceased, the Blue House National Petition Internet bulletin board capture, Yonhap News)