Family’s heartbreak as skater, ten, dies
THE family of a ten-year-old figure skater who died after collapsing during a training session paid tribute to him last night and said they were heartbroken.
Ice rink workers battled to save Jayden Orr but he died in hospital a short time later.
The incident happened at Auchenharvie Leisure Centre in Stevenston, Ayrshire.
The death of the youngster, from Port Glasgow, Renfrewshire, is thought to be related to an underlying medical issue.
His distraught parents John, 38, and Kathleen Orr, 42, were too distressed to speak yesterday.
A fundraising site launched in memory of Jayden had last night reached raised £1,600 of its £2,000 target. Writing on the JustGiving site, Jayden’s sister Kerri Lynn said her brother had hoped to one day compete at the British Figure Skating Championships.
The 19-year-old wrote: ‘Jayden was a cheery boy always bouncing around, always had a smile on his face and always touched the hearts of so many people.
‘He was a wonderful ice skater always in competitions, he was heading for British championships.
‘He had his life set on being a professional ice skater but during his routine on Friday evening Jayden sat down on the ice and sadly passed away at the age of ten.’
She added: ‘It’s so tragic and happened so fast. I’ve set this up to help my mum and dad and help our heart broken family at this horrible time. We think Jayden should get the send-off he deserves.’
A member of the Magnum Figure Skating Club, Jayden regularly took part in competitions around Scotland and won the ‘nine and under’ class at the Blackpool Ice Skating Festival in April.
A Police Scotland spokesman said they were called to the rink on Friday evening.
They added: ‘Emergency services attended and the boy was taken to Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock where he died a short time later.
‘A post-mortem examination will take place in due course to establish the exact cause of death.’