The 9-year-old fourth-grader at Westwood PreK-8 School died Tuesday morning after she collapsed there and was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital suffering from an undetermined condition.
An autopsy was performed Wednesday, but the cause of death has not been determined as investigators await test results.
“At the completion of an autopsy, we did not find a cause or manner of her death,” said Ken Betz, director of the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office. There was no indication of foul play or no findings of any trauma, he said.
Naeema Figgers said her daughter was not ill and her only medical conditions were allergies and asthma, which was diagnosed two years ago. She said the girl had an inhaler with her at school and had never suffered a life-threatening asthma attack in the past.
Dayton Public Schools spokeswoman Jill Moberley said the district is “fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation” that involves Dayton police.
Moberley has said there was no health threat to other children, but released no other information about the circumstances involving the girl’s collapse.
Figgers lovingly called her daughter the “World’s Next Top Model” because she was constantly posing and taking photos of herself.
“She liked to dress up in my heels and makeup,” Figgers said Wednesday night as she sat in her daughter’s room.
She said Unique was excited to have a baby brother, due in November.
“All she talked about was having a little brother or sister because she was tired of being the only child,” her mother said.
On Wednesday, district Superintendent Lori Ward went to Westwood to show her concern and to offer support.
“It’s tough for the staff and students in these circumstances to go through a normal school day, certainly with heavy hearts,” Moberley said.
Westwood has a part-time nurse who was not at the school at the time Unique collapsed, Moberley confirmed.
The nurse, who works at Westwood two days a week, also works at Thurgood Marshall High School. On Tuesday morning, the nurse was at Belmont High School with as part of a team of nurses helping to perform vision screenings, Moberley said.
Dayton Fire Chief Herbert C. Redden II said Ward had contacted him to get more information about the incident involving Unique.
Paramedics found her lying in the second floor hallway, surrounded by adults, Redden said.
“There was CPR in progress,” he said.
Fire officials were still trying to pin down the names of those who came to the child’s aid.
“My people were working so quickly on the incident they didn’t have time to find out who those individuals were,” he said.
Most Dayton-area schools do not staff on-site nurses, according to a Dayton Daily News analysis reported in May.
Most local districts fall short of a student-to-nurse guideline of one nurse for every 750 students set by the National Association of School Nurses and supported by the Ohio Department of Education.
At the time of the newspaper’s report, DPS had 29 nurses for 13,987 students, a high ratio in the area of one nurse for every 482 students — second only to Troy for student-to-nurse ratios of local school districts with more than 2,000 students.
House of Wheat Funeral Home is handling the funeral arrangements.
A date and time have not yet been set. Condolences and donations to the family can be made by contacting the funeral home at houseofwheat.com or (937) 274-1693.
Staff writer Jill Kelley contributed to this report.
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