Tragedy anew for 9/11 clan
Pancake contest kills fallen cop’s girl
A college student whose dad was a Port Authority cop killed in the 9/11 attacks choked during a pancake-eating contest and died Sunday — leaving her family grappling with “unimaginable’’ grief once again, family and friends said.
“It’s just been unbelievable,’’ said Kitty Grinnell, the aunt of Caitlin Nelson, 21, and the sister of Officer James Nelson.
Caitlin had eaten four or five pancakes at a “Greek Life’’ fund-raising dinner at her school, Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., on Friday when she choked and fell, witnesses told cops.
A nearby nursing student attempted CPR and emergency workers tried the Heimlich maneuver on the college junior before trying to grab the food from her throat.
“[Caitlin’s] heart stopped for 10 minutes,’’ Grinnell told The Post.
The young woman, who was from Clark, NJ, was rushed to a local hospital and then transferred to Columbia University Medical Center in Manhattan, where she died.
She had several allergies, but doctors determined that they had nothing to do with her death, police said.
Caitlin was just 5 when her dad was killed, and she would post touching Facebook photos of them together each year on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The loss of her father led her to selflessly volunteer — helping survivors of the Sandy Hook school massacre as well as other kids of 9/11 victims. She also planned a career in social work.
“She had empathy for every- body,’’ said Grinnell, 59.
Caitlin attended America’s Camp, which offers the children of 9/11 victims a sleepaway week each year, starting in around 2005, and eventually became a staffer, said its director, Jay Toporoff.
When those at the organization heard she was in dire condition, “all of Caitlin’s bunk [mates], about seven or eight, went to the hospital,” he said. “They came from Virginia and Boston and everywhere.”
A PA source who worked with Caitlin’s father called the family’s grief “unimaginable.”
“I can’t even speak about what [mom] Roseanne and her family are going through right now,” the source said.
Grinnell added, “[Caitlin] was a beautiful young girl in every way. This is just wrong.’’