Student Had Rare Illness, Coroner Says

A Ventura seventh-grader who collapsed during gym class and died suffered from a rare irregular heartbeat, coroner’s officials said Thursday.

Ricardo Ramirez, 12, had a sudden cardiac arrhythmia Wednesday as he trotted out for a warmup run with other students at DeAnza Middle School, said Mike Feiler, senior deputy medical examiner in the Ventura County coroner’s office.

The condition causes the heart to pump so fast that it can’t fill with blood, starving the rest of the body of blood and leading to a collapse, he said.

Ricardo’s heart was also slightly larger than normal for his age and size, indicating a possible viral or bacterial infection, the examiner said. Microscopic studies of the heart tissue over the next week will determine whether that was a factor, Feiler said.

The coroner’s office found no indication that the boy had been taking any medication or supplements, such as ephedrine, that might have caused the arrhythmia.

“It’s just not something you see very often,” Feiler said of the death.

Ventura city officials Thursday set up a weeklong fundraiser to help the Ramirez family pay for their son’s funeral.

Donations can be dropped off at canisters set up across the city, including at elementary schools in western Ventura, at City Hall and at police and fire stations.

For more information, call (805) 654-7807.