ELYRIA – Nine-year-old Kiersten Sump gave her mother a thumb’s up to show that she was all right after falling while ice skating Friday night at North Park Recreation Center.

Less than five minutes later, the little girl collapsed and died on the ice.

Lorain County Coroner Paul Matus said it may be three to four weeks before he learns why Kiersten died.

“It’s a tragic loss,” Matus said. “We’re looking at some natural disease processes.”

Kiersten, a fourth-grader, was described by her family Saturday as a “sweet,” “lovable” and “extraordinary” girl who loved nature, ice skating and horses.

“When a child’s 9 years old, there’s not much you can say,” said her grandfather, Ed Sump.

Her grandmother Irene Sump said Kiersten loved gardening and the zoo. She also said everybody loved Kiersten.

“Everybody loved her that met her,” Irene said. “She didn’t dislike anybody. She talked to everybody, she liked everybody.”

“All her teachers loved her,” agreed family friend Christy Krysinski.

Laughter through tears in their Briarwood Drive living room was how the Sump family and friends were coping on Saturday with their shocking loss.

“We almost lost her when was born,” said her father, Stephen Sump, with tears in his eyes. “She might have been here to help (her best friend) Serena and to help us learn how to be good parents. She did the things she needed to do and then she went on.”

Kiersten had a way of drawing people out, her mother, Elizabeth Sump said.

She did it with one of her best friends, Serena, and with an elderly man she visited as part of an intergenerational program through her school.

“This gentleman wouldn’t interact with anyone,” Elizabeth remembered. “Kiersten just walked right up to him and plopped herself down in his lap. … She helped him come out of his shell.”

Serena, too, was very shy and withdrawn before her friendship with Kiersten, Elizabeth said, adding that Serena used to live in the southern part of the country, so Kiersten prayed it would snow for her friend. And it did.

“The two of them complemented each other in the most profound way,” she said of the two young friends, crying quietly when she thought of Serena learning about Kiersten’s death. “Poor Serena.”

Krysinksi talked about Kiersten’s “fierce” hugs and Elizabeth commented on her daughter’s “profound way of finding people” who were sad.

“We were driving through the Burger King drive-thru one day and the girl working looked like she’d just had the longest day of her life,” Elizabeth said. “Kiersten leaned forward and said, ‘Excuse me’ and the girl said, ‘What?’ and Kiersten said, ‘I just wanted to tell you I think you’re really pretty.’ ”

“Tell the story about the class gerbil,” someone suggested.

“Oh yeah,” Elizabeth said, smiling. “She counseled her preschool class when their gerbil, Squeaky, died. She said, ‘Squeaky’s gone to heaven. It’s OK to be sad because we’ll miss Squeaky, but don’t be sad because Squeaky’s in heaven.’ She was just 3 years old. … She was just an amazing little girl.”

Irene Sump shared memories of sleepovers at grandma’s house. Kiersten would crawl into her grandmother’s bed at night and Irene would listen while Kiersten talked about – well, everything.

“Those were some of my favorite times with her,” Irene said, voice breaking.

Stephen remembered his daughter’s precocious questions.

“She asked some of the strangest questions,” he said with a small laugh. “She asked if Jesus had a pet rabbit.”

Kiersten found the concept of the Easter Bunny laying eggs confusing and thought maybe it did that because it was Jesus’ pet rabbit, Elizabeth said.

The gathering laughed when they remembered how angry Kiersten got the first time her parents took her to the public library when she was 4 years old.

” ‘Nobody ever told me about this before!’ she said to us,” Elizabeth said. “She was so mad that she hadn’t known you could get books for free from the library.”

“She lived a lot of life,” Stephen sighed. “She liked to ride on the motorcycle with me and she was so happy when she got her first helmet. … She loved doing everything. She might give a little grump about it, but she’d go. … We’re still trying to find out why we lost her.”

Friday night is still a shock and a mystery to Kiersten’s family.

Elizabeth said she, Kiersten and Kiersten’s older sister were having a great time skating – with Kiersten teasing her older sister because the teenager was still learning.

“She was having a wonderful time,” Elizabeth said. “She had one little fall on her bottom and I looked over and gave her a thumbs up and she gave me a thumbs up back. Maybe a minute or two later, she was down again. … She was on her hands and knees, but by the time I got to her, she was gone.”

Elizabeth cried while describing the heroics of a registered nurse who took turns with Elizabeth giving Kiersten CPR on the ice rink. Elizabeth also called the paramedics who took over CPR as heroes, as well as the staff at EMH Regional Medical Center who all tried for more than 90 minutes to revive her daughter.

“So many of the employees at Elyria just stood outside of the room,” Elizabeth said. Her voice broke and she began crying again. “It was just that fast. Three minutes after she gave me the thumbs up and she was gone.”

“We’ll make it somehow,” Irene said, also breaking down. “She was the love of my life. I waited for her for so long. We finally got her and now she’s been taken away.”

Contact Alicia Castelli at 329-7144 or acastelli@chroniclet.com.

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