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St. Charles 7th-grader dies after cross country meet

A seventh-grade student from Thompson Middle School in St. Charles died Wednesday morning after falling ill during a cross country meet, according to school officials.

Cameron Pepera, 13, of St. Charles, died at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago Wednesday as the result of an undetected, pre-existing medical condition, St. Charles District 303 spokesman Jim Blaney said.

Cameron was competing in a meet Tuesday at Thompson Middle School when he began to suffer what some people on hand thought might be a seizure, Blaney said.

As he was being taken to Delnor Hospital in Geneva, Cameron went into cardiac arrest and was rerouted to Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield and then to Lurie in Chicago.

Having been a District 303 student since kindergarten, Cameron had many friends and teammates who knew him for several years and cared about him very much, Principal Tim Loversky said.

Thursday morning, students started sticking notes on Cameron's locker with messages of both love and sorrow, he said.

By third period, hundreds of sticky notes and cards covered his locker and the wall above it, "showing how much our student body misses him," Loversky said.

"It was a totally student-directed memorial," he said. "It was especially touching."

Later that morning, Cameron's parents and grandparents showed up at the school and saw what his classmates had done for him.

"They were just so joyful to see the impact that Cameron had on the Thompson Titan community," Loversky said.

Loversky, who knew Cameron personally, said he was always polite and respectful. He loved sports. He was involved in school activities such as basketball and cross country camps over the summer.

Cameron's teachers spoke highly of him, too, saying he put a lot of effort into his schoolwork, Loversky said.

"He was just a good, nice kid who worked hard," he said.

Blaney said officials at Thompson have made counselors available to students and staffers, and have a policy in place to encourage people who need to talk to find a person they can trust.

"We talk to our students and we make sure people are available to talk to," Blaney said. "This is something we take very seriously throughout the school year."

At the next cross country meet Tuesday, the team will wear headbands and T-shirts that read #CamStrong, both in the color red to represent Cameron's love of Ohio State University, Loversky said.

Additionally, students will have the chance next week to sign banners that say #CamStrong and will be given to Cameron's parents.

"As difficult as it is for a school community to have to deal with something like this, our hearts and our prayers go to Cameron's family," Blaney said. "It's a horrible loss, and we just hope the best for them."

Visitation for Cameron will be held from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday at Yurs Funeral Home, 405 E. Main St. in St. Charles, according to his obituary. The funeral service will be at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 101 S. 6th Ave. in St. Charles.

  Thompson Middle School in St. Charles. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
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