Heartbroken Family Mourns Girl, 10, Who Died After Collapsing on Soccer Field … – NBC New York

The heartbroken family of a 10-year-old girl who died after collapsing on a soccer field Monday during her first day of summer camp in Queens remembered their child as a great friend and sister with a bright future as they struggled to cope with their unbearable loss.

Laura Palma, who was enrolled in the Queens College Summer Camp, was on the field at Queens College at about 3:10 p.m. when she complained of feeling sick and collapsed, according to authorities and sources familiar with the investigation. 911 was called at 3:14 p.m., the sources said.

Queens College staff administered CPR until emergency crews arrived about eight minutes later; the crews were already trying to save the girl’s life by the time police arrived in response to the 911 call, the sources said.

Palma never regained consciousness; she was taken to New York Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Monday was her first day of camp

Palma’s devastated family said she was a straight A student and rarely left the side of her brother, who has cerebral palsy.

“She was a great sister, a great friend — she just finished fifth grade on Friday,” her mother, Patricia Nolasco said, pounding her first on a table in frustration.

Nolasco said she would remember her daughter as “sunshine in a pink dress.”

“She loved life, she loved people, she loved her family,” the tearful mother said.

Overcome with emotion, the little girl’s father shared the most recent photo he had of his daughter — and remembered how much she enjoyed the sunshine.

“I said, ‘My God, Laura, you look like such a young lady now,'” her father said. “She was gonna be so much.”

In a statement, Queens College said it “mourns the tragic loss of this young life and extends its heartfelt sympathy and prayers to her family.”

The medical examiner’s office will determine how Palma died. Her mother says she had no medical issues and had just received a clean bill of health in a pre-camp checkup with her doctor Sunday.

The school said grief counseling services are being made available to summer camp students and staff.