7-year-old girl dies after archway falls, hits her at party, Wise County sheriff says
A 7-year-old girl died late Saturday after she was hit in the head by a falling wooden archway at a party in Wise County, the sheriff said.
The girl, a second-grade student at Paradise Elementary, was pronounced dead at 10:46 p.m. Saturday, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office website.
She died from blunt head trauma and her death was ruled an accident, according to the medical examiner’s office in Fort Worth.
“It is with a sad heart that we realize what a tragedy we have to face,” Paradise ISD Superintendent Rod Townsend said in a statement released by the district, according to the Wise County Messenger. “Please keep this family and our friends in prayer as they go through this traumatic time.”
A parent of the student also works at Paradise ISD, the Wise County Messenger reported.
Counselors were at Paradise Elementary and Paradise Intermediate schools on Tuesday to help students and staff. The Wise County Messenger reported that Townsend said counselors from Wise Health System’s Crisis Response team and Wise County Christian Counseling will be at the campuses as long as they are needed.
The accident was reported just before 10 p.m. Saturday in the 200 block of County Road 4651 in Wise County, near Rhome.
The girl was at a party and playing with other children in the area, Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin said on Wednesday.
Children got on a wooden archway and it collapsed, striking the girl in the head, the sheriff said.
Deputies and paramedics arrived and administered medical aid until she was taken to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, where she died.
No other children were injured in the incident.
This story was originally published September 7, 2022 at 10:53 AM.
