15-year-old with ‘clean bill of health’ dies during school basketball tryouts in NY
.jpeg "A community is in mourning after the sudden passing of the 15-year-old at Copiague High School.")
A New York community is devastated after a high school student collapsed and died during basketball tryouts on Nov. 17.
According to his parents, who gave interviews to multiple media outlets, 15-year-old Carmyne Paschall Payton was running laps when he suddenly collapsed on the court, News12 said.
“Once I got here and seen him on the stretcher, they’re doing CPR – it took my mind away,” Arthur Payton, Carmyne’s father, told News12. “He did a physical to play basketball to tryout — nothing. Clean bill of health. He was your normal 15-year-old kid.”
The Copiague School District in Long Island sent out a letter to parents about the student’s death, expressing their condolences.
“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 even adults do not have all of the answers to the questions they may have,” Copiague High School Principal Joseph M. Agosta said in an email. “Accepting your child’s feelings and validating these feelings will be beneficial.”
Agosta also told parents that their high school crisis team, which include counselors, psychologists and social workers, are on staff to assist students with their grief.
Tiffany Wofford, Carmyne’s mother, told Eyewitness News that the school called her and she arrived to witness responders attempting to save her son.
“He never woke up,” she said.