MERCER, Pennsylvania - The community in Mercer is reeling from the tragic death of an eight-year-old girl who choked on her school lunch.

"She's the nicest; she's the sweetest little girl. She's an amazing little girl- her smile, her laugh." That's how Jamie Mattocks described her eight-year-old niece Aizeya as she battled for her life at Pittsburgh Children's Hospital Wednesday night.

The little girl was hospitalized with brain and heart damage after she choked on a hot dog during a school lunch at Mercer Elementary on Tuesday.

"She was just in the lunchroom cafeteria yesterday at school, carrying on with her friends, laughing," remembered Jamie. "And all of the sudden she started to choke, she fell."

School officials say CPR-trained staff responded quickly to the choking girl, and helped her until paramedics arrived.

"They were there, right on top of everything," said Jamie. "They did everything that they could've done in the best timely matter that they did it."

"We're very proud of the response and they did a terrific job and they did what they were trained to do," said Mercer Area Schools Superintendent Dr. Bill Gathers. "Unfortunately, it still ended in a very tragic result."

At the hospital Aizeya died from her injuries.

Grief counselors are on hand for teachers and students in Mercer.

"It's a very sad day, certainly," said Dr. Gathers. "We lost one of our school family, it was very hard on everyone in the district."

Each year more than 10,000 children go to the emergency room for choking on food and up to 77 die according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Doctors say hot dogs are the top offender.

"The other commons foods to aspirate are nuts and seeds," added Dr. Joseph Frank of Hermitage. "So any child under the age of four should not be allowed to have any nuts or seeds."

Doctor Frank says teaching good chewing habits early can help, although can't always prevent deaths like Aizeya's.

"One of the very first things we tell parents to do [is] supervise your children to make sure when they are chewing foods that they chew them thoroughly and swallow appropriately," explained Dr. Frank. "And we want to make sure that when children are riding in vehicles or playing sports they're not ingesting anything, mainly gum or lollipops especially during the car rides."

In light of the little girl's death, Mercer Area School officials decided to eliminate hot dogs from their lunch menus.

The community is shocked by the sudden, tragic accident. Many mourned her loss on a Facebook wall created in memory of Aizeya.

"Our thoughts and prayers certainly go out to the family in their time of grief," said Dr. Gathers.