"The Khimberly Act" - Mandate thorough examinations for children after head trauma
"The Khimberly Act" - Mandate thorough examinations for children after head trauma
The Issue
On an ordinary school day, my 12-year-old niece, Khimberly, was assaulted by bullies and struck on the head with a metal thermos.
She went home with a head injury.
She was examined.
She was sent home.
No CT scan was performed. No advanced imaging was ordered. No internal bleeding was ruled out.
4 days later, her condition worsened and she suffered from a brain anneurism.
3 days later Khimberly had passed away at the hospital...
She was twelve years old.
A child who should have been worrying about homework and friendships.
A child who laughed loudly.
A child who trusted the adults around her to protect her.
Head injuries in children are not rare. They are one of the leading causes of death and disability among young people in the United States.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), traumatic brain injuries (TBI) contribute to thousands of pediatric deaths each year and result in hundreds of thousands of emergency department visits. Children aged 0–17 account for a substantial portion of these cases. Many of these injuries initially appear mild.
But brain trauma does not always look dramatic from the outside.
A visual assessment alone cannot detect internal bleeding, swelling, or vascular damage. When evaluation protocols vary from provider to provider, the margin for error becomes deadly.
Khimberly’s life might have been saved if comprehensive diagnostic protocols had been mandatory and uniformly applied.
Her death cannot be undone.
But it can mean something.
We Call on Lawmakers to Enact “The Khimberly Act”
The Khimberly Act would:
• Establish federally standardized pediatric head trauma evaluation protocols
• Require clear, evidence-based criteria for mandatory CT or MRI imaging when children present with significant head injury
• Mandate documented neurological monitoring and follow-up instructions for guardians
• Require uniform training for emergency and urgent care providers in pediatric head trauma assessment
• Create accountability standards to ensure protocols are followed across all medical facilities
This is not about punishing individual providers.
This is about closing dangerous gaps in the system.
No parent should ever hear, “We didn’t think it was necessary.”
No family should live with the question of whether a deeper examination could have saved their child.
When children are struck in the head — at school, on a field, at home — caution must be the rule, not the exception.
We regulate school buses.
We regulate car seats.
We regulate playground safety.
We must regulate medical response to pediatric head trauma with the same seriousness.
Turn Grief Into Protection
It is a cruel truth that tragedy often reveals how deeply we love.
Khimberly’s absence has shattered our family.
But her name can become protection for others.
By signing this petition, you are calling for national safeguards that could prevent another child’s preventable death.
You are saying that when it comes to children and head injuries, “good enough” is not good enough.
You are saying that no child’s life should depend on guesswork.
Let Khimberly’s name stand for vigilance.
Let it stand for accountability.
Let it stand for life.
Please sign.
Please share.
Help us ensure that no other family buries a child because a head injury was underestimated.
For media stories on my niece Khimberly Zavaleta Chuquipa, please visit:
https://abc7.com/post/khimberly-zavaleta-death-mother-12-year-old-girl-details-school-fight-reseda-left-daughter-dead/18664751/
https://nypost.com/2026/02/28/us-news/reseda-girl-dead-after-bully-threw-water-bottle-at-her-head/
https://nypost.com/2026/02/28/us-news/reseda-girl-dead-after-bully-threw-water-bottle-at-her-head/
To help and support the grieving family at this dire tragic time with funeral and burial costs, as well as medical and law firms bills, please consider visiting the GoFundMe page at - https://gofund.me/cfb7b6702
Thank you and G-d bless you and all children.
2,284
The Issue
On an ordinary school day, my 12-year-old niece, Khimberly, was assaulted by bullies and struck on the head with a metal thermos.
She went home with a head injury.
She was examined.
She was sent home.
No CT scan was performed. No advanced imaging was ordered. No internal bleeding was ruled out.
4 days later, her condition worsened and she suffered from a brain anneurism.
3 days later Khimberly had passed away at the hospital...
She was twelve years old.
A child who should have been worrying about homework and friendships.
A child who laughed loudly.
A child who trusted the adults around her to protect her.
Head injuries in children are not rare. They are one of the leading causes of death and disability among young people in the United States.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), traumatic brain injuries (TBI) contribute to thousands of pediatric deaths each year and result in hundreds of thousands of emergency department visits. Children aged 0–17 account for a substantial portion of these cases. Many of these injuries initially appear mild.
But brain trauma does not always look dramatic from the outside.
A visual assessment alone cannot detect internal bleeding, swelling, or vascular damage. When evaluation protocols vary from provider to provider, the margin for error becomes deadly.
Khimberly’s life might have been saved if comprehensive diagnostic protocols had been mandatory and uniformly applied.
Her death cannot be undone.
But it can mean something.
We Call on Lawmakers to Enact “The Khimberly Act”
The Khimberly Act would:
• Establish federally standardized pediatric head trauma evaluation protocols
• Require clear, evidence-based criteria for mandatory CT or MRI imaging when children present with significant head injury
• Mandate documented neurological monitoring and follow-up instructions for guardians
• Require uniform training for emergency and urgent care providers in pediatric head trauma assessment
• Create accountability standards to ensure protocols are followed across all medical facilities
This is not about punishing individual providers.
This is about closing dangerous gaps in the system.
No parent should ever hear, “We didn’t think it was necessary.”
No family should live with the question of whether a deeper examination could have saved their child.
When children are struck in the head — at school, on a field, at home — caution must be the rule, not the exception.
We regulate school buses.
We regulate car seats.
We regulate playground safety.
We must regulate medical response to pediatric head trauma with the same seriousness.
Turn Grief Into Protection
It is a cruel truth that tragedy often reveals how deeply we love.
Khimberly’s absence has shattered our family.
But her name can become protection for others.
By signing this petition, you are calling for national safeguards that could prevent another child’s preventable death.
You are saying that when it comes to children and head injuries, “good enough” is not good enough.
You are saying that no child’s life should depend on guesswork.
Let Khimberly’s name stand for vigilance.
Let it stand for accountability.
Let it stand for life.
Please sign.
Please share.
Help us ensure that no other family buries a child because a head injury was underestimated.
For media stories on my niece Khimberly Zavaleta Chuquipa, please visit:
https://abc7.com/post/khimberly-zavaleta-death-mother-12-year-old-girl-details-school-fight-reseda-left-daughter-dead/18664751/
https://nypost.com/2026/02/28/us-news/reseda-girl-dead-after-bully-threw-water-bottle-at-her-head/
https://nypost.com/2026/02/28/us-news/reseda-girl-dead-after-bully-threw-water-bottle-at-her-head/
To help and support the grieving family at this dire tragic time with funeral and burial costs, as well as medical and law firms bills, please consider visiting the GoFundMe page at - https://gofund.me/cfb7b6702
Thank you and G-d bless you and all children.
2,284
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on March 2, 2026