Loveland – Sasha Gunther, 8, was born with only half a heart.
She got a transplanted heart when she was 11 weeks old, but in January doctors told her parents that it was beginning to show signs of rejection.
Tuesday evening, Sasha’s 12- year-old brother found her on the ground near her bicycle in Carrie Martin Elementary School’s parking lot and called 911.
She was pronounced dead at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins. Since authorities found no indication of foul play or trauma, her parents believe her heart condition finally claimed her life.
“She didn’t have a scratch on her,” said Sasha’s mother, Joanne Evans of Loveland.
Sasha underwent medical treatments for transplanted coronary artery disease for a week in January, Evans said. “Everything seemed fine,” she said.
Randy Gunther said his daughter had been a happy, healthy child who loved the thrill of riding on the back of his motorcycles and dirt bikes.
“It’d be easier to talk about what she didn’t do,” Evans said. “She was go, go, go, go, go all the time.”
Sasha had bushy eyebrows because of her medication, dark strawberry blond hair, blue eyes and thick eyelashes, her mother said.
The first thing Sasha did when she came home after school was grab a snack, her mother said. Then, depending on the weather, she’d play outside or play guitar or type on the computer.
“She liked to type letters to friends or stories or just type,” Evans said.
Counseling services were held for Sasha’s classmates at Carrie Martin Elementary in Loveland on Wednesday.
“She was very accepting,” Evans said. “It didn’t matter what you looked like or how you sounded. She liked all the kids at school.”
Staff writer Katherine Crowell can be reached at kcrowell@denverpost.com.
