This was in today's paper. Every day above ground is a plus.
Sept. 25, 2002, 10:13AM
Schoolgirl, 13, died of burst aneurysm
Medical examiner says death was quick
By ERIC HANSON
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
MISSOURI CITY -- A 13-year-old girl who collapsed on a school bus and died had suffered a burst aneurysm in her heart, the Harris County medical examiner said Tuesday.
Amanda Nicole Jackson, an eighth-grader at Missouri City Middle School, died quickly after the weak spot in the wall of her aorta ruptured Monday afternoon, Dr. Joye Carter said.
"This is one of those rapid, bizarre things," she said. "It is so hard for the family."
Counselors were brought to the campus Tuesday to assist any students who requested help in the wake of the girl's death.
"I talked with the principal, who said she was a delightful child," said Fort Bend school district spokeswoman Mary Ann Simpson. "She was in the gifted and talented class and played in the school band. She was very popular."
The girl, a Missouri City resident, was talking with friends on the bus outside the school about 4 p.m. Monday when she suddenly lost consciousness. Paramedics tried to resuscitate her there and she was rushed to Memorial Hermann Fort Bend Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 5:27 p.m.
An autopsy Tuesday revealed that the teen had an aneurysm in her aorta, the main vessel that carries blood from the heart to the arteries, Carter said. After the aneurysm burst, blood flooded the area around the heart, compressing it and preventing it from beating, she said. She said death came quickly.
Most people who develop aneurysms are older, Carter said, but it does happen occasionally in younger people.
"It's unusual and rapid and may not have had any symptoms," she said. "It could have been split-second; something just tore."
The death had puzzled school officials and police, who could not find any evidence that the girl had suffered an injury or illness.
Simpson said the district's police department worked with Missouri City police all night and into the morning on the case.
"They retraced her steps -- what she did, what she ate, what she drank and who she was with -- and could find nothing out of the ordinary or anything that contributed to her death," Simpson said.
Police said they talked with the girl's family and found no history of such health problems.
"It's sad," said Ron Echols, assistant police chief in Missouri City. "She's 13 years of age and in middle school and has the rest of life in front of her. Our heart goes out to the family."
Funeral arrangements were pending.
Sept. 25, 2002, 10:13AM
Schoolgirl, 13, died of burst aneurysm
Medical examiner says death was quick
By ERIC HANSON
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
MISSOURI CITY -- A 13-year-old girl who collapsed on a school bus and died had suffered a burst aneurysm in her heart, the Harris County medical examiner said Tuesday.
Amanda Nicole Jackson, an eighth-grader at Missouri City Middle School, died quickly after the weak spot in the wall of her aorta ruptured Monday afternoon, Dr. Joye Carter said.
"This is one of those rapid, bizarre things," she said. "It is so hard for the family."
Counselors were brought to the campus Tuesday to assist any students who requested help in the wake of the girl's death.
"I talked with the principal, who said she was a delightful child," said Fort Bend school district spokeswoman Mary Ann Simpson. "She was in the gifted and talented class and played in the school band. She was very popular."
The girl, a Missouri City resident, was talking with friends on the bus outside the school about 4 p.m. Monday when she suddenly lost consciousness. Paramedics tried to resuscitate her there and she was rushed to Memorial Hermann Fort Bend Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 5:27 p.m.
An autopsy Tuesday revealed that the teen had an aneurysm in her aorta, the main vessel that carries blood from the heart to the arteries, Carter said. After the aneurysm burst, blood flooded the area around the heart, compressing it and preventing it from beating, she said. She said death came quickly.
Most people who develop aneurysms are older, Carter said, but it does happen occasionally in younger people.
"It's unusual and rapid and may not have had any symptoms," she said. "It could have been split-second; something just tore."
The death had puzzled school officials and police, who could not find any evidence that the girl had suffered an injury or illness.
Simpson said the district's police department worked with Missouri City police all night and into the morning on the case.
"They retraced her steps -- what she did, what she ate, what she drank and who she was with -- and could find nothing out of the ordinary or anything that contributed to her death," Simpson said.
Police said they talked with the girl's family and found no history of such health problems.
"It's sad," said Ron Echols, assistant police chief in Missouri City. "She's 13 years of age and in middle school and has the rest of life in front of her. Our heart goes out to the family."
Funeral arrangements were pending.
