A first-grade boy playing during recess Wednesday fell and died at southwest Denver’s Sabin Elementary School, district leaders said.
The 7-year-old boy, Tristan Carpenter, had health problems, including troubles with his heart, district officials and parents said Wednesday.
Teachers union president Kim Ursetta went to the school in the afternoon to talk to teachers.
“He was really a neat kid,” she said. “Everybody really liked him.”
He apparently was on the playground during early afternoon recess and fell on a piece of concrete. Sabin leaders called paramedics when he was unresponsive.
Police were called as “protocol,” Denver Public Schools officials said. Police did not comment.
The boy had to go to the hospital in September because of medical problems, said DPS spokesman Mark Stevens.
In a letter that went out to parents Wednesday, Sabin principal Wendy Pierce said that, according to Tristan’s mother, the boy loved school and was looking forward to Sabin’s fall festival scheduled for tonight. His mother insisted the school still hold the festival in honor of him, according to the letter.
Roughly 620 students go to Sabin Elementary, in the 3000 block of South Vrain Street.
Parents and students milling around the school’s grounds Wednesday called the death sad but not surprising given Tristan’s medical history.
“It’s not shocking because … he had a preexisting condition,” said Shanda Irwin, whose son attends Sabin Elementary.
A friend, fourth-grader Angel Delarosa, said Tristan was a “funny” boy.
Elia Rincon, who was picking up her daughter at Sabin, quickly read the principal’s letter and said she was “very sad.”
DPS Superintendent Michael Bennet also went to the school. Counselors will be available at the school today.
“I can tell you, based on the tears in that room,” Stevens said, “there is need.”
Staff writer Allison Sherry can be reached at 303-820-1377 or asherry@denverpost.com.
