A Sugar Land Middle School student collapsed while playing basketball in the school gym and died late Wednesday afternoon at a local hospital, officials said.
Thirteen-year-old Jocelyn Arias, an 8th grader, was with other students practicing basketball in the gym after school yesterday and “just suddenly collapsed,” said Fort Bend Independent School District spokeswoman Mary Ann Simpson.
The girl appeared to have a seizure, Simpson said. School officials called for an ambulance immediately, and the school coach tried to revive the girl using a defibrillator.
Emergency medical workers transported the girl to Sugar Land Methodist Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 5:30 p.m., Simpson said.
No immediate information about Arias’ cause of death or any possible history of seizures was available Thursday afternoon.
“This news has shocked and saddened our staff and our student body, and our hearts and prayers go out to Jocelyn’s family,” Sugar Land Middle School Principal Lisa Padron said in a letter sent to parents Thursday afternoon. You may want to discuss what happened with your student. A district crisis team and our entire Sugar Land Middle School staff have worked closely with our students today, and we will continue to have our counselors available to any students who may need to talk.”
“The death of any person is a loss that, in one way or another, affects us all,” Padron said.
