Carmyne Paschall was a student at Payton Copigue High School and fell while running on a lap.
“Walter G. O’Connell Copiag High School has experienced the death of a student who has deeply affected us,” Principal Joseph Agosta said in a letter to the families. “Walter G. O’Connell Copiag High faculty and staff extend our condolences to the family and friends of this student and pledge to provide the support and counseling they need to help them through this difficult time.”
Peyton’s mother, Tiffany Wofford, tells Eyewitness News that she received a call and ran for school, watching as respondents tried to revive her son.
“He never woke up,” she said through tears. “He never woke up.”
Wofford, still utterly shocked by what happened to his son, said that the basketball team was something that had become a recent passion for him.
“And he’s like, ‘Mom, I made the cut! I’m so excited,'” she said.
She said that while she initially thought her son had a broken wrist or something, she never suspected it would be so bad.
“I wasn’t going there expecting to see it,” she said. “I just want to know what happened. I just want to know if the autopsy can tell me anything.”
Doctors say that about 90% of such issues in high school sports can be picked up by a simple electrocardiogram.
Dr. Sean Levchuk at St. Francis Hospital actually does them for free with echocardiograms for teenagers in a monthly program.
But what happened at Kopiag raises the question, should a basic heart exam be required for high school sports?
“There’s a yin and a yang in the medical profession who want to do this and the insurance provider says, ‘Yeah, you could have done it, but it’s coming out of your pocket,'” he said. “So it becomes a very controversial thing.”
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As far as Carmine is concerned, Wofford says she was cleared in August of basic physical and in good overall health.
Now, the family is suffering a lot. Carmine has one older brother and three younger sisters.
“Everything I asked was like, ‘Ok Mom, OK Mom, OK Mom,'” Wofford said. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m going to do without him.”
A team of counselors, psychologists and social workers will be available in the school.
“As a school staff, we encourage you to listen carefully to your child, answer questions openly and honestly if they occur, and let your child know that adults have all those questions as well. doesn’t have the answers they might have,” Agosta wrote. “Acknowledging your child’s feelings and validating these feelings will be beneficial. Over the course of the coming weeks and months, confusing feelings may come to the fore from time to time. It is important for your child to discuss these feelings with an adult. It can be helpful to have an open discussion.”
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