A 9-year-old girl died Friday at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs shortly after collapsing during recess on the Stetson Elementary School playground.
Kristen Cornell was a fourth-grade student at the school.
“A tragedy, a huge loss,” El Paso County coroner Dr. Robert Bux said.
Her death, he said, was from natural causes. He predicted it will take several weeks to conclude an autopsy.
“It’s sad when any kid dies, but she was a good kid, and her parents were all you’d want in a mother and father – model parents,” Bux said.
The Falcon School District 49 website posted a brief announcement of Kristen’s death and dispatched a team of psychologists, nurses and counselors Monday to help students and staff at Stetson Elementary.
Students spent part of the day fashioning drawings and sympathy letters to the Cornell family.
“This happened, basically, out of the blue,” Bux said. “We see one or two of these deaths every year or so. Completely unexpected. Somehow, it doesn’t seem so bad when it’s an adult, but it is such a travesty when this happens to a kid.”
Memorial services are pending at Shrine of Remembrance, 1730 E. Fountain Blvd., Colorado Springs.
