Teen Dies After Ventilator Fails In Power Outage

BOSTON -- A 15-year-old died Friday after the power went out in his East Boston home and his ventilator failed, according to the Boston Police Department.

Fernando Vargas was found dead at 61 Valler Road, where he lives with his family in a public housing complex. Fernando suffered from multiple disabilities, including cerebral palsy, mental retardation and seizure disorder.

VIDEO: Teen Dies After Ventilator Fails In Power Outage

Although the teen died after the power went out and a backup battery failed, authorities said it was also possible his death was from natural causes. The teen needed the ventilator 24-hours per day to sustain his breathing.

At 5 a.m., an alarm sounded on his ventilator. His family went in his room to check on him, and they switched the power source of the ventilator to a backup battery pack. Once family members saw that the pack was working, they returned to bed.

One hour later, a personal care attendant who stays with the family went in to give Fernando medicine and found the teen dead and the ventilator off.

"I sacrificed my life and everything for the boy. We gave him a good living. It is sad that we lost him just for a power outage," the teen's stepfather, Ariel Acevedo said. "The last time I saw him was last night at 11:30 p.m. He was up playing with me, and everything changed in a second. He was my boy."

The battery is supposed to last for 10 hours, according to Acevedo.

"I don't know what happened. The ventilator wasn't working and the battery wasn't working," Acevedo said.

Caroline Allen, of NStar, said the power went off at 4:50 a.m. and came back on at 6:47 a.m. She said that the cause of the power outage was a cable failure.