Denver – A 16-year-old boy with a heart defect collapsed while jogging at an Englewood youth detention center on Wednesday and died, officials said today.
The boy, who had an enlarged heart since birth, had just completed stretching excercises and was running slowly around an outdoor track at the Marvin Foote Center when he fell suddenly, said Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Health Services.
Staff members of the state-run facility immediately contacted medical personnel who attempted CPR, McDonough said.
Paramedics responded and took the boy to Skyview Hospital in Douglas County where he was pronounced dead, she said. His family was called and arrived at the hospital shortly after the boy died.
The Division of Youth Corrections will investigate the circumstances of the death, McDonough said.
She said she could not release the name of the youth, who was serving a seven-day sentence for violation conditions of parole. McDonough said she does not know what crimes the boy committed.
“Our thoughts, prayers and sympathy today are with the young man’s family,” said Marva Livingston Hammons, executive director of Human Services.
