Kyle Plush called 911 for help and to pass a message to his mum: ‘I am almost dead’

KYLE was trapped and dying. He was able to make one final, desperate call to the cops he thought would save him. He was wrong.

Kyle Plush's death sparked an inquiry into the police response to his 911 call.

KYLE Plush knew at once he was in mortal danger.

The 16-year-old from Cincinnati, Ohio in the United States, was in his mini-van and was scrambling around for his tennis gear when the third row foldaway seat gave way and pinned him.

He couldn’t move and was trapped so in desperation he used Siri on his iPhone to call 911 and ask for help.

“I’m going to die here,” he told the operator on April 10. In a second call a few minutes later he even described his vehicle, a gold Honda Odyssey, and told them where was, in his school parking area.

He wanted them to know it was no joke — and begged them to tell his mum that he loved her if he died.

“I probably don’t have much time left, so tell my mom that I love her if I die. This is not a joke. ... This is not a joke. ... Send officers immediately. I am almost dead.”

Officers did respond to his pleas but they couldn’t locate the car. Their actions, and the way the 911 call was handled by the operator, have been the focus of a major inquiry that was launched after Kyle’s father found his lifeless body almost six hours after the call.

An autopsy found Kyle died from suffocation from compression to his chest.

Since the tragedy, the Cincinnati City Council has ordered a shake up of the city’s police and 911 call centre.

Kyle Plush's death sparked an inquiry into the police response to his 911 call.

The review found two police officers drove around the high school looking for Kyle but left after 11 minutes, one of them saying to superiors: “I don’t see nobody ... which I don’t imagine I would.”

“This was a horrific tragedy. We share in their heartbreak around this,” Police Chief Eliot Isaac said of the boy’s family.

The controversy has prompted major changes at the 911 centre, which had been plagued for years with staffing, workplace and operational problems that were highlighted after Kyle’s death. More changes could come after the police department’s internal probe and the county prosecutor’s investigation.

Kyle’s mini-van is removed from the parking lot near the Seven Hills School campus in Cincinnati. Picture: AP

The police chief will present his findings to the city council this week on what went wrong in efforts to locate the teenager. But he said officers who went to the scene never received the vehicle description from Kyle’s second call. He declined to elaborate.

The 911 operator who took the second call was briefly placed on leave, but has since returned to work.

Police also released body-camera footage that doesn’t show the responding officers getting out of their vehicle. But the clips accounted for only about three minutes of the time they were on the scene.

One of the officers is heard commenting that students at the private school were driving “better cars than you do.” Police said they left the Seven Hills school parking area at 3:37pm, about two minutes after Kyle’s second call.

A friend called the boy’s parents around 8pm, saying Kyle, a member of the tennis team, never showed up for his match.

Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac speaks to reporters about the death of Kyle Plush.

Cincinnati mayor John Cranley hugs a member of Kyle Plush's family before council's Law and Public Safety Committee meeting.

Many questions remain unanswered, including exactly how the teen became trapped. It’s suspected that the rear seat flipped over as he reached over it.

Honda spokesman Chris Martin told The Associated Press the company had been seeking access to inspect the 2004 Odyssey to better understand what happened.

Honda last year recalled about 900,000 later-model Odysseys because of concerns about second-row seats tipping forward if not latched properly, but Mr Martin said there were no seat-related recalls of the 2004 model.

In the fallout over the 911 centre, city manager Harry Black resigned under pressure. The city council also approved about $450,000 for more staff, better training, improved technology and workplace upgrades.

Members of the Plush family have been sitting in on council meetings, storming out of one after taking offence at a councilman’s suggestion they were seeking money.

In a statement, Kyle’s parents, Ron and Jill Plush, called him a “remarkable son” who “embraced life with a passion beyond his years.” “We also have questions and want answers,” they said.

— With AP