School officials were baffled by the sudden, so far unexplained death of a Prince George child on Friday at recess. The boy was playing on the Foothills Elementary School playground when he dove for a ball. For reasons still under investigation, he did not get up from that lunge.
Support services were dispatched to the school that day, Saturday counsellors were also at the school on the weekend for the benefit of the neighbourhood, and board of education chair Lyn Hall said the service would still be there this morning.
"That will be there throughout the week for as long as it takes to go through that process," Hall said. "We would like to extend our condolences, thoughts and prayers to the family. We are all in disbelief. It is a tragic thing to have happen."
The effect of the incident has had an impact across the school district and beyond, Hall said. School yards are the last place one expects to hear of a child's death occurring, especially when surrounded by carefree students and supervisory staff, playing a typical game.
"We have had students that have had injuries, and there have been other serious events we have had to address, but nothing like this that I can remember as a trustee," he said. "It is my assumption that the coroner will be involved, and the medical community at the hospital. We are awaiting notification about how that process will take place."
Whenever a child dies in British Columbia, it usually triggers a special investigation by the B.C. Coroners' Service (BCCS).
"The Child Death Review Unit reviews the deaths of all children aged 18 and under in B.C.," said a statement by the BCCS. "The intent of these reviews is to better understand how and why children die, and to use those findings to prevent other deaths and improve the health, safety and well-being of all children in British Columbia.
"Information arising from these various reviews is analyzed and shared with agencies and organizations to influence and develop programs to deter or prevent child deaths," the statement continued. "By understanding the risks, we can be guided in determining the most significant opportunities for prevention. Staffed with experts in the area of research and review, the unit also examines provincial and national trends with regard to child deaths."
In 2009, the BCCS did an audit of all child death files between 1995 and 2007. There were 262 cases. Overall, the victims were 58 per cent male and 42 per cent female. Northern B.C. children accounted for 43 of those cases.
"The death of a child is a great loss to family, friends and the community. Understanding the circumstances surrounding a child's death is one way to help make sense of the tragedy and may help prevent deaths of other children," said the BCCS.
