Silt
New member
One of my classmates passed away yesterday... I'm quite devastated. First thing yesterday that I heard was that Kevin, the victim, was in the hospital in critical condition with life threatening injuries. Him and a friend were curious and put a rock (about the size of a large grapefruit) by a bus trap. As they watched from the grass a couple meters back, the rock shot out from underneath the bus tire and hit Kevin in the forehead. He was rushed to the Children's Hospital. That same night on the 11 pm news, it was announced that he was taken off of life support earlier in the evening.
Here are a couple articles from today's newspaper:
Calgary boy dies after hit in head with rock flung from bus tire in prank
Canadian Press
Thursday, October 19, 2006
CALGARY (CP) - Crisis counselors came to a junior high school Thursday to comfort classmates of a Grade 8 student who died in a freak accident.
Kevin Gonsalez, 13, was pulled off life support Wednesday, a day after he and a buddy placed a large rock on the metal bars of a bus trap as a prank.
When a bus passed by, the pressure of the tires propelled the rock out and it hit Gonsalez just above the eyes.
He was taken to Alberta Children's Hospital, but his injuries were too severe to save him.
Because of their young school mate's tragic death, and the unusual circumstances surrounding it, the decision was made to bring in grief counselors to St. Helena junior high school, said Tania Younker, a spokeswoman for the city's Catholic school district.
"They're just talking with kids, taking one-on-one time with kids who need it and providing support to the teaching staff," she said.
It's become standard practice after a tragic or traumatic event to allow both students and staff to express their feelings, she said.
"It's better for kids to be able to talk it through with somebody who can help them work through the grief and the pain and help them grieve and get that out in the open rather than keep it bottled inside."
Because of the Catholic junior high school's strong faith component, a special service will likely be held at the school, Younker said.
The date for such a service hasn't been set.
Friends say the Gonsalez family recently moved to Calgary from Colombia.
© The Canadian Press 2006
Teen dies after freak accident with rock
Gwendolyn Richards; Calgary Herald
Gwendolyn Richards, Calgary Herald
Published: Thursday, October 19, 2006
A young victim of misadventure has died from injuries sustained Tuesday when he was hit in the head by a large rock in an experiment that went horribly wrong.
Kevin Gonsalez, 13, died after he was pulled off life-support, Calgary Catholic School District superintendent Jeremy Simms said Wednesday evening after a trustee offered up prayers for the student at a board meeting.
Gonsalez and his friend Christian Florez were experimenting when they put a fist-sized rock on the bus trap -- a pit covered by metal bars spaced to allow buses to pass but not other vehicles -- on Centre Street N. just south of Beddington Trail on Tuesday afternoon.
They were watching the rock as a bus drove over it, propelling it at Gonsalez "like a slingshot" and hitting the teen just above the eyes, Acting Sgt. Gordon Johnston said Tuesday.
The teen was taken to Alberta Children's Hospital in life-threatening condition.
Friends and classmates at St. Helena Junior High School, where Gonsalez was a Grade 8 student, said they were shocked the funny teenager had been so seriously injured.
Katie Skappak said she was with Gonsalez and Florez by the bus trap, but left shortly before the incident.
She couldn't believe what happened, she said.
Friend Luis Combariza said Gonsalez moved to Calgary about eight months ago and was a nice guy with a good sense of humour.
"He's a funny guy," he said.
Calgary Transit spokesman Ron Collins said the service has never had any problems like this before and doesn't anticipate it will happen again.
"This was an unfortunate, freak accident," he said.
The Catholic school district's crisis intervention team is talking to the school's administration to get a sense of how the school community is reacting, spokeswoman Tania Younker said.
"They will be at the school (today)," she said.
© The Calgary Herald 2006
Sincerely,
Lisa Fedorchuk
Kevin Gonsalez
1993-October 18, 2006
Here are a couple articles from today's newspaper:
Calgary boy dies after hit in head with rock flung from bus tire in prank
Canadian Press
Thursday, October 19, 2006
CALGARY (CP) - Crisis counselors came to a junior high school Thursday to comfort classmates of a Grade 8 student who died in a freak accident.
Kevin Gonsalez, 13, was pulled off life support Wednesday, a day after he and a buddy placed a large rock on the metal bars of a bus trap as a prank.
When a bus passed by, the pressure of the tires propelled the rock out and it hit Gonsalez just above the eyes.
He was taken to Alberta Children's Hospital, but his injuries were too severe to save him.
Because of their young school mate's tragic death, and the unusual circumstances surrounding it, the decision was made to bring in grief counselors to St. Helena junior high school, said Tania Younker, a spokeswoman for the city's Catholic school district.
"They're just talking with kids, taking one-on-one time with kids who need it and providing support to the teaching staff," she said.
It's become standard practice after a tragic or traumatic event to allow both students and staff to express their feelings, she said.
"It's better for kids to be able to talk it through with somebody who can help them work through the grief and the pain and help them grieve and get that out in the open rather than keep it bottled inside."
Because of the Catholic junior high school's strong faith component, a special service will likely be held at the school, Younker said.
The date for such a service hasn't been set.
Friends say the Gonsalez family recently moved to Calgary from Colombia.
© The Canadian Press 2006
Teen dies after freak accident with rock
Gwendolyn Richards; Calgary Herald
Gwendolyn Richards, Calgary Herald
Published: Thursday, October 19, 2006
A young victim of misadventure has died from injuries sustained Tuesday when he was hit in the head by a large rock in an experiment that went horribly wrong.
Kevin Gonsalez, 13, died after he was pulled off life-support, Calgary Catholic School District superintendent Jeremy Simms said Wednesday evening after a trustee offered up prayers for the student at a board meeting.
Gonsalez and his friend Christian Florez were experimenting when they put a fist-sized rock on the bus trap -- a pit covered by metal bars spaced to allow buses to pass but not other vehicles -- on Centre Street N. just south of Beddington Trail on Tuesday afternoon.
They were watching the rock as a bus drove over it, propelling it at Gonsalez "like a slingshot" and hitting the teen just above the eyes, Acting Sgt. Gordon Johnston said Tuesday.
The teen was taken to Alberta Children's Hospital in life-threatening condition.
Friends and classmates at St. Helena Junior High School, where Gonsalez was a Grade 8 student, said they were shocked the funny teenager had been so seriously injured.
Katie Skappak said she was with Gonsalez and Florez by the bus trap, but left shortly before the incident.
She couldn't believe what happened, she said.
Friend Luis Combariza said Gonsalez moved to Calgary about eight months ago and was a nice guy with a good sense of humour.
"He's a funny guy," he said.
Calgary Transit spokesman Ron Collins said the service has never had any problems like this before and doesn't anticipate it will happen again.
"This was an unfortunate, freak accident," he said.
The Catholic school district's crisis intervention team is talking to the school's administration to get a sense of how the school community is reacting, spokeswoman Tania Younker said.
"They will be at the school (today)," she said.
© The Calgary Herald 2006
Sincerely,
Lisa Fedorchuk
Kevin Gonsalez
1993-October 18, 2006
