Jaheir Booker, an 11-year-old student in Millwood, died after collapsing during middle school football practice, leaving the community grieving.

“It was during a middle school football practice. Our middle school football coaches responded first. They initiated a heat-related response because it was football, and they assumed his collapse was heat-related — even though yesterday was a pretty cool day,” Robinson-Woods said.

Booker, a fifth grader, was pronounced dead at the hospital following the medical emergency.

“For any child, it’s a lot to witness something like that. But for our coaches and adults, I really want to — I can’t thank them enough for responding the way they did. They’re living with having to go through that, thinking, ‘You should’ve done more,’ but not knowing what more you could do,” Robinson-Woods said.

She explained that the coaches followed protocol during the emergency but were unable to prevent the tragedy.

“We do a great job of planning how to handle an emergency, but we know what really gets us is the next steps afterward — for those of us who have to carry on, including his family and mom,” Robinson-Woods said.

Booker had been a student at Millwood since he was four years old and is being remembered as an outgoing, thoughtful child who was loved by many.

“Our prayers and thoughts go out to the family, and we’re reaching out to support them in any way we can,” Robinson-Woods said.

Grief counselors have been on-site throughout the day to support students.