Ventura Middle School Student Collapses in His Physical Education Class and Dies

A Ventura seventh-grader collapsed Wednesday during a gym class run at De Anza Middle School and died shortly after at a hospital, school officials said.

Ricardo Ramirez, 12, was an outstanding student who wanted to go to college and ran a nine-minute mile for the school’s cross-country team, said Supt. Trudy Arriaga of the Ventura Unified School District.

But as Ricardo and his classmates headed out for a warmup run at the start of their 10 a.m. class, the boy went about 50 yards and fell down, she said. School staff and paramedics tried to revive him, but he died 45 minutes later at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, Arriaga said.

“It’s an incredible shock and loss to our community,” she said.

An autopsy is scheduled for today, said Mike Feiler, senior deputy medical examiner in the Ventura County coroner’s office. Feiler said the boy had no health history that would explain his collapse and that drug abuse was not suspected.

“This is very rare,” he said.

Arriaga said school officials told her that Ricardo had suffered a fainting spell during class last year. It was not during gym class, and the boy’s family took him for treatment, she said.

Ricardo did not have any restrictions on his physical activity, she said. The oldest of three children, he was well-liked by students and staff, Arriaga said.

Students, she said, were planning to hold a carwash to help Ricardo’s family pay for funeral expenses.

A dozen counselors, nurses and district administrators were at the school Wednesday to help students, Arriaga said.

“There were tears, a lot of grief,” she said. “My heart goes out to his parents. We send our children off for the day and we expect them to arrive home.”