The sudden death over the weekend of a Burnsville teenager on a North Dakota university campus has left the south metro community reeling and struggling to understand what happened.
Devin Delaney, a 17-year-old student-athlete at Burnsville High School, was pronounced dead in a North Dakota State University dorm room on Sunday. Delaney was on the Fargo campus visiting friends when emergency personnel were dispatched to Sevrinson Hall just after noon on a call of boy being unresponsive. Lifesaving efforts were unsuccessful, a statement from the university's Media Relations office said.
The University's statement did not say how Delaney died, but that "there were no apparent signs of foul play."
"When I got the call, I couldn't believe it," wrote Allison Millea, one of Delaney's teachers, in a statement. "There was no way this happy face could be gone."
Millea joined other grieving students and teachers at the school football field after hearing the news, which she described as an unforgettable scene. "The pain on so many young faces was horrific, but the way they all came together to hug, cry, laugh, sob, and remember was amazing. In Burnsville, we are so supportive of one another … This is the first student death of someone I had in class and I wouldn't be able to get through it if it weren't for this community of love."
Brody Childs, one of Delaney's best friends, said he had known Delaney since childhood and two played on several hockey and lacrosse teams together. Delaney was a senior at Burnsville High and was a standout on the school's lacrosse team. He also played junior gold hockey.
"He was one of the most natural athletes I have ever met," Childs said. "He loved them both."
Fargo Police also responded to the call, which was listed as a medical issue at NDSU, at 12:04 p.m., according to dispatch records listed on the department's website. Efforts to revive the teen failed, the university statement said.
