Update 5:15 p.m. Tuesday: The cause of the death of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta student is still under investigation by the State Medical Examiner in Anchorage. Mitchell Forbes, the Public Information Officer with the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation, says the Examiner completed the autopsy on the student Tuesday and is waiting on lab test results. YKHC will release more information as it becomes available. The Upper Kalskag school confirmed that one of their students, ninth-grader Katie Wooten, died on Monday.
Update 2:30 p.m. Tuesday: The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation has issued the following statementon the recent death of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta student: "After working with the State Medical Examiner, YKHC does not recommend antibiotic treatment to anyone other than the immediate family of the deceased student and others who may have been in close contact. This means, unless you have been contacted by medical staff from YKHC, you do not need to visit the emergency room for treatment regarding this incident. More information will be released as it is available."
Update 9:00 a.m. Tuesday: The student who died was ninth-grader Katie Wooten from George Morgan Sr. High School in Upper Kalskag. Wooten died on Monday; other details have not been released.
On Thursday, before leaving for the regional wrestling conference, Wooten wrote on her Facebook page: "Leaving to bethel (sic) for regionals in wrestling first or second to take State."
Now Facebook is flooded with grief and condolences of her death.
A Facebook page titled Wooten 180 AK has a post saying, "There are no words that can begin to express the sadness and loss we feel. But I must also say how honored and proud I am to have been given the chance to be your mom. I loved you with all my heart. You made me so happy and mad and scared and excited and proud and you were more deeply loved than you will ever know. You were a fighter til the end and I love you for it! "
Original story from Monday: A student in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta has died of unknown causes. Details of the student’s name, grade, school, symptoms, and date of death are not being released at this time by the Lower Kuskokwim School District or the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation.
All that’s known is that the student competed in the regional wrestling conference this weekend at Bethel Regional High School. Some time afterwards, the student died without any sign of infection.
The State Medical Examiner in Anchorage is scheduled to perform an autopsy Tuesday to determine the cause of death.
In the meantime, the student’s family and others who might have been in close contact with the student are being offered antibiotic treatment in an “abundance of caution,” according to a joint press release from the Lower Kuskokwim School District and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation.
