Students at a Catholic school in Des Moines, Iowa, are mourning one of their classmates who was tragically killed over the weekend in a hammock accident.
Peri Sagun, 13, had attached the hammock to a brick pillar with her sister. When she jumped into the hammock, the pillar collapsed on her, striking her head.
Her sister ran into the house and got the girls’ father, who performed CPR until first responders arrived, the Des Moines Register reported.
She was rushed to a hospital, where she later died of her injuries.
According to the police report, the pillar that fell on Sagun was only buried in the ground several inches deep, with no reinforcements.
KTLA’s sister station WHO in Des Moines spoke with a mason who said those kinds of structures should be buried below the frost line, at least a foot down, with a concrete or rebar anchor.
A city official told the Register that there are no municipal planning regulations for the design and construction of brick posts such as the one that killed Sagun because they are considered decorative.
Sagun was a student at St. Augustin Catholic School, where students and teachers were coping with the loss this week. A prayer service was held at the school on Monday.
“For many of these students, they haven’t even lost a grandparent. So for them, they’ve experienced death for the first time. So, at the prayer service, it was hard on them,” said Principal Nancy Dowdle.
“Every child had the same question. ‘Why did this happen, how could God do this? Why now?’ … We could give them no answers other than this is a plan, and we don’t know the plan, but we just have to pray that the family gets through it,” teacher Pat Hogan said.
Sagun was set to graduate from eighth grade next week. A winner of the presidential scholarship, she looked headed to a bright future.
“Peri was wonderful. She was very talented in tennis, she played for our volleyball team, she was an honors student, she was a gymnast, she was a dancer, she was in all our musicals the last three years. And she always wanted to do the right thing,” Dowdle said.
The staff is now discussing how to memorialize her at graduation, though they wish there was something more they could do.
“You would gladly take their place, in a heartbeat. They’re wonderful kids, and so when something happens like this, you just wish that you could just exchange places,” Hogan said.
