University of Connecticut Student Dies After Suffering 'Medical Emergency' in Dorm Room
The University of Connecticut has identified a student who died last week on the Storrs campus as 19-year-old Joy Iwuagwu.
Iwuagwu was pronounced dead on Jan. 26 after having what school officials described as a “medical emergency” in her dorm room, the Connecticut Post reported Friday.
University public safety officials were called to the North residence complex around 1:25 p.m., according to the report.
“Upon arrival, they were directed to a room in which the resident had been found unresponsive,” UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said.
Campus fire officials gave emergency care to Iwuagwu until Windham Hospital EMS arrived and pronounced her dead, the Post reported.
Connecticut’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Wednesday that the cause of Iwuagwu’s death was pending further study, according to CT Insider.
“Preliminary indications suggest the untimely death may have been the result of a medical emergency, and is not being treated as suspicious,” Reitz said, according to WFSB-TV.
UConn school officials identify student who died on Storrs campus https://t.co/MCNeAk5w6s
— WFSB Channel 3 (@WFSBnews) February 1, 2023
Iwuagwu’s name was released in response to a Freedom of Information request from Hearst Connecticut Media Group, CT Insider reported.
Reitz said the 19-year-old was a sophomore studying in UConn’s College of Communication Arts & Sciences.
Iwuagwu’s LinkedIn describes her as having a passion for digital media and digital marketing and says she had straight A’s throughout her time at Hamden High School in Hamden, Connecticut.
UConn has experienced tragedies in the past.
In January 2020, another 19-year-old student, Tianyin Shang, was found dead in Mirror Lake. The state’s chief medical examiner ruled her death a suicide, according to WTIC-TV.
#UConn student’s death ruled suicide. Medical examiner says she drowned herself in Mirror Lake’s icy watershttps://t.co/q2ZRIaByob pic.twitter.com/Gqukqe8oEA
— thechroniclect (@thechroniclect) January 23, 2020
Another 19-year-old UConn student was killed in October 2016. Jennifer Pally was run over by a fire department vehicle that was responding to an emergency, according to WVIT-TV.
Pally had been sitting with her back against the garage door of a public safety complex around 1:15 a.m. The fire department received an emergency call, and when the garage door opened, Pally fell backward and was run over by a Chevy Tahoe.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
