Indiyah Rush was just trying to save another girl’s life when she shared her rescue inhaler, but she has been suspended from school and faces time at an alternative school for her actions.
The 12-year-old girl is dependent on the inhaler and knew she had to do something when she saw another girl with asthma gasping and wheezing during gym class. So, she offered the girl the use of her own inhaler, and she wound up in the principal’s office with several days of at-home suspension and 30 days of alternative school.
“I mean they punished her twice,” said Monique Rush, Indiyah’s mother. “They suspended her on top of sending her to alternative school. I mean how could you do a kid like that?”
The school explained that the 30 days of alternative school is automatic when a controlled substance such as an inhaler is involved, but there will be a hearing to determine the facts of the case. 30 days is the maximum punishment, but it could be reduced down to none depending on the findings of the hearing.
“It’s a prescription and one students severity with asthma may not mirror that of the girl who let the other borrow hers and that could have resulted in some pretty significant issues,” said Chris Moore, Garland ISD spokesman.
But Indiyah doesn’t understand why she is being punished with alternative school at all.
“I was just trying to save her life. I didn’t think I was trying to do anything bad,” Indiyah said.