Crime & Safety
Rare Heart Defect Killed 7-Year-Old Girl at Park Ridge Cheerleading Camp
Kate Babich suffered from Ebstein's anomaly, which led to the Park Ridge girl's death in June, the Cook Co. medical examiner's office says.
PARK RIDGE, IL — The Cook County medical examiner's office is blaming a rare heart defect for the sudden death of a 7-year-old Park Ridge girl who took ill during a cheerleading camp she was attending in June, the Park Ridge Herald-Advocate reports.
Katherine "Kate" Babich, who had just finished first grade at Field School, suffered from Ebstein's anomaly, a congenital condition that affects the heart's tricuspid valve and can enlarge the organ or cause heart failure, the report stated.
Kate became sick during Cheer Camp at Maine South High School on June 27. She was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead hours later.
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RELATED: Park Ridge 2nd-Grader Dies After Becoming Sick at Cheerleading Camp
"Kate is known as an inspired learner, a leader and a good friend to everyone in her class," Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 Superintendent Laurie Heinz said in a statement in June. "I know her classmates and Field staff will miss her dearly.”
Find out what's happening in Park Ridgefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The girl's unexpected death also generated an outpouring of support from the Park Ridge community. Ribbons for Kate, a group started by Babich family friends, helped residents and businesses display purple ribbons in the girl's honor through the beginning of July. Purple was chosen because it was Kate's favorite color.
RELATED: Residents, Businesses Cover Park Ridge in Purple Ribbons to Remember Kate Babich (VIDEO)
YouTube user Mackenzie Elizabeth also posted a video of some of those displays along with the song "In the Arms of an Angel" by Sarah McLachlan.
"The town of Park Ridge came together to express our love and remembrance for Kate Babich," she wrote in the description of the video. "Here is some of the purple seen around."
More via the Park Ridge Herald-Advocate
PHOTO: Purple ribbons spell out "Kate" as part of an effort to honor Kate Babich, the 7-year-old Park Ridge girl who died unexpectedly last week. (Mackenzie Elizabeth | YouTube screen shot)
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