Sun Prairie Student Dies While Working Out At High School | News

A Sun Prairie ninth-grader died while working out at Sun Prairie High School on Thursday afternoon, according to a letter sent to faculty and parents from Cardinal Heights Middle School Principal Ryan Ruggles.

Jay Haraldson,16, was taken to St. Mary's Hospital, but efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, Ruggles said in the letter.

Nancy Harms, Haraldson's summer swimming coach, said he had taken part in swimming practice in the morning and was doing fine afterwards.

"The news spread rapidly yesterday," Harms said. "He collapsed when he was working out at the high school on the treadmill. The adults that were there did everything they could. They started CPR and the EMS got there very quickly."

Jay's father Joel and mother Sharon, who is a teacher at Patrick Marsh Middle School, watched their son endure some of life's challenges.

Haraldson was diagnosed in 2001, at age 5, with a soft-tissue cancer on his jaw, known as rhabdomyosarcoma. He had a recurrence when he was 11, but had recovered and was in remission, Harms said. 

"Jay was a very upbeat, positive young man," said Harms. "He was always looking at the positive side of life ... He was always looking out for the best interest of others and keeping light-hearted and having fun, that's the type of kid he was." 

School counselors were at the high school on Friday morning and at the Familly Aquatic Center to offer support for any students or teammates who wanted to talk about the tragedy.

"Kids got to cry a little, talk a little, vent a little, write some thoughts down and then we went ahead and had practice," Harms said.

Saturday he was supposed to attend a cancer survivors event, but now the family will be forced to wait for answers. Harms said there is still no official cause of death. The family told her they expect to know more in about four weeks after tests are completed.

"After you sit down and think about it, you get a little jittery for a few hours and you just cry," Harms said. "As a mom, my thought, right away, go out to mom and dad."

"When you look in the sky, there's another bright and shining star up there and that's Jay looking out for you," Harms said to Jay's teammates.

Visitation will be held on Sunday from 4 to 8 p.m. and Monday from 10 to 11 a.m. at St. Albert's Church in Sun Prairie. The funeral will follow on Monday at 11 a.m.