Teacher Banned after Ripping out Boy's Insulin Pump

Holy shit. I can't imagine the circumstances under which this occurred. I'll tell you this, though. Even if my kid was being a smartass, you don't touch the kid and rip ANYTHING out of his hands.... or BODY, for crying out loud.

How could this teacher not have seen the IV tubing attached to the boy's body? Hello, are most cellphones attached to people with IV tubes?

Sheesh.

From the boy's local news station in Lake County, Florida:

Teacher Banned After Ripping Out Boy's Insulin Pump
School Officials: Teacher Thought Pump Was Cell Phone

POSTED: 4:24 pm EDT October 4, 2005
UPDATED: 8:25 am EDT October 5, 2005

A substitute teacher in Lake County, Fla., was terminated and banned from teaching in the county after he ripped out a student's insulin pump during class apparently thinking it was a ringing cell phone, according to a Local 6 News report.

Officials said a ninth-grade student at East Ridge High School, who is a Type I diabetic, was in class Monday when his insulin pump began to beep, indicating he was low on insulin.

Witnesses said the class teacher, Richard Maline, 51, asked the student what the beeping was.

School officials said Maline then grabbed the device, thinking it was a cell phone beeping and detached the tube that connects the insulin pump to the student's leg. {{MORE}}

Here's a photo of the so-called "teacher."

I'm guessing the pump was in the child's pocket or on a belt clip. There's no way this Richard Maline character could have yanked out the pump without touching the boy. If this was my child, Maline's head would be on a stick.