An autopsy performed Wednesday on the body of a University of Oregon gymnast Lauren Jones failed to determine what killed the 2014 Southwest DeKalb High School graduate, but more tests are needed to rule out meningococcemia, a bacterial infection that has sickened three other university students and was suspected in Jones' death, according to The Oregonian.
Meanwhile, another Oregon newspaper reported that Jones was treated for a high fever at one hospital and released early Tuesday, only to be taken hours later to another hospital, where she died.
According to The Eugene Register-Guard, medical responders sent to Jones' dorm shortly before 1:30 a.m. Tuesday transported the freshman to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center with a high fever.
The hospital staff reduced her fever and sent her home, the newspaper reported, but 11 hours later, medical personnel were again called to her dorm room. She was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield, where she later died.
As a freshman on the national champion University of Oregon acrobatics and tumbling team, Jones was just beginning her college career. Back at Southwest DeKalb High School, Jones was already a legend.
“Lauren was always the best at whatever she did,” former coach Kathleen Richey-Walton said. “There wasn’t anything Lauren couldn’t do.”
A natural athlete who also played tennis and performed in the band, Jones loved cheerleading and gymnastics the most. She didn’t just push herself, but also her teammates, Richey-Walton told Channel 2 Action News.
Captain of the high school gymnastics team. Team MVP as a senior. Captain of her club competitive cheerleading team. MVP of her high school’s varsity cheer squad. Honor roll student. Chemistry major. Jones had a lofty resume for any 18-year-old.
Jason Davis, spokesman for Lane County Public Health, told The Oregonian and The Register-Guard, “we haven’t ruled out meningococcemia” in Jones’ death.
Additional tests will be conducted by the county, at a state lab and by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he said. Davis did not know when results of those tests would be known.
— Staff writer Alexis Stevens contributed to this report.
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