A student died suddenly on Saturday, August 6th, 2022 after suffering from cardiac arrest while playing frisbee with family members.
Owen Cotty, a 16-year-old junior at Methacton High School in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania died suddenly earlier this month as he was playing frisbee with his father and uncle.
“On August 6th, 2022, Owen was playing frisbee with his father and Uncle when he fell to the ground,” an entry on a fundraising campaign read. “CPR was administered immediately, and first responders were on the scene rapidly, but despite best efforts, he could not be resuscitated.”
“He left behind his parents, Adam and Tamala Cotty, and his older Sister Felicity, as well as extended family and friends. His sudden and unexpected passing has left a gigantic hole in our hearts. It is our goal to see his mission of programming and service continue through this scholarship,” according to the GoFundMe campaign set up as a scholarship fund in memory of Owen Cotty.
Felicity Cotty, Owen’s sister, wrote a moving tribute to her brother on her social media account.
“You don’t realize how fragile life really is until it’s gone. I feel like I’m struggling to wake up from a nightmare. You weren’t a loud kid that often but life just feels muted without you. I’m sorry for all the times I’ve stressed you out or upset you when dumb small stuff would happen. I don’t want to imagine a world without you.
You were so smart and had an amazing future infront of you. You deserved a long life. I don’t know how I’m going to go through life without you making me laugh. You were the funniest, sweetest, caring man that I ever knew. All I want is more video games with you, to design the art for the games you create, more haunted golf at the beach, more birthdays, to see you go to whichever college you choose, to see you grow up more, to throw the ball at the beach more, to see your smile again, to hug you and say “I love you” one more time.
Wherever you are right now, I hope you are the happiest you’ll ever be. I love you so much Owen. You were such a good person and I wish so many more could’ve gotten the chance to have their world brightened by you. I can’t say it enough, I love you so much, Bro.”
“Our son was a caring, sweet young man who loved to be silly. He was an avid programmer, coding games in his free time and had a goal to go to college and become a video game designer,” according to Owen’s obituary.
“He was also active in Boy Scouts as a Senior Patrol Leader with his favorite activities being volunteer based, especially scouting for food in conjunction with Philabundance where the scouts would collect food from the community for those in need. His greatest passion was helping those around him and making people smile.”
The memorial service for Owen will be held on Saturday, August 20.
To help contribute to the Owen Cotty Memorial scholarship fund, click https://gofund.me/f8282076
In a letter to families, Methacton School District Superintendent David Zerbe shared the tragic news and assured parents and guardians that a crisis intervention team comprised of trained professionals would be on hand to support grieving pupils, according to Patch.
“I am sharing this information with parents/guardians of all students in the district so that you can best determine how to relay this information to your children since this loss is sure to raise many emotions, concerns, and questions for our entire school community,” Zerbe wrote in the letter.
As of recently, there has been an alarmingly high rate of unexpected deaths among children and young adults. One is left to ponder the underlying cause of this phenomenon.