By:Jeff Lipton
Lawrence High School junior Crystal Gay was enthusiastically looking forward to a spring-break vacation with her family in San Francisco earlier this month.
But the 16-year-old teenager never made it onto the plane. She collapsed at JFK Airport and died a short time later at Jamaica Hospital, and her parents still search for answers to her death. Funeral services were held on Easter Sunday, April 15, and she was laid to rest the following day at Greenfield Cemetery in Hempstead.
"She was having no problems at all," said Pauline Gay, Crystal's mother. "She was in good spirits; she was in good health."
The mother and her two daughters were waiting to board a late-afternoon flight to the West Coast, where they were going to meet the girls' father, Juneroy, who was already in San Francisco. Crystal was sitting next to her 13-year-old sister, Andrea, at the TWA terminal, at about 4 p.m. Sunday, April 8, when Crystal fell to the floor. Andrea told her mother that Crystal had collapsed, and Pauline rushed to her daughter's side. She said she shook Crystal, and when she received no response, she pleaded for help.
"I thought she fainted, and when I got no response from her, I yelled 'Please help me. Somebody get me help.'"
Two nurses rushed over and received permission from the mother to perform CPR. "I said, 'Anything to help my child,'" Pauline Gay said.
Crystal was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 4:45 p.m., her mother said. No cause of death was given, and even an autopsy performed by the coroner in Queens could not determine why the teenager died. Further studies are being done, the results of which may not be ready for another three to six weeks.
"I have no idea why," said Pauline Gay, an Inwood resident for 31 years. "I thought it was her heart or I thought it could be an aneurysm. It was not drug-related. It was nothing suspicious, nothing."
About a year ago, the girl was diagnosed with a heart murmur and wore a heart monitor to school for one week. But she was said to be in fine health after that, her mother said.
About 500 mourners attended the funeral service at Solid Rock Seventh Day Adventist Church in Far Rockaway to bid Crystal farewell.
Because Crystal died during spring break, many classmates and teachers were not aware of it until they returned to school on Wednesday, April 18. Students and staff were so shaken, that administrators considered shutting school for a day but decided against it. Instead, a crisis intervention team made up of social workers, counselors and psychologists were brought in to help anyone cope. Each teacher was paired with a crisis team member in Crystal's classes to help soften the impact of seeing an empty seat that used to be occupied by the popular 11th-grader.
"When they saw her empty seat, some were taking it very hard," said Dr. Steven Kussin, Lawrence High School principal.
He said each one of Crystal's teachers said the same thing: "She was sweet, charming, caring and sincere."
Because Crystal was devoted to the animal science program at the high school, teacher Alicia Dunn is arranging a tree-planting in her memory on Arbor Day. In addition, her friends have decided to create a memorial plaque for Crystal that will be displayed in the animal science room.
"She was positively the sweetest girl," Dunn said. "She was extremely caring and kind to the animals. She was very, very happy working in this room with the animals.
"It's really difficult. This is a small class and there's a real emptiness now."
Crystal's friends said they felt lost, trying to fill the void in their lives.
"When I first heard, I kept saying, 'She's not dead, she's not dead,' and I walked away," said Katy Riddick, an 11th-grader who knew Crystal since the first grade. "When I found out it was true, I just started screaming. Now I can't sleep at night."
Katy added, "Everyone loved her. I don't know of one person who didn't like her."
Princess Preston, an 11th-grader and a close friend, said Crystal introduced her to students at Lawrence, starting in the seventh grade. "When I found out [about her death], I cried that night. It feels very different now. She had her own laugh and I will miss it."
Ebony Perez, a 10th-grader, said Crystal "had a heart of gold. You could always talk to her. She was always there for you."
Misty Chamberlain, a Spanish teacher, said Crystal always showed she cared about others and made her a birthday cake at the end of March. "She was a great girl. She loved to cook and be a part of everything."
Another Spanish teacher, Jeannine Cammarata, will always remember Crystal's shy smile. "I wish it wasn't true," she said of Crystal's death. "It's just a terrible shock."
Many students wrote poems, which helped them express feelings about her, Kussin, the principal, said.
"She was a quiet girl, but a lovely, lovely young lady," Kussin said. "She was always smiling, always cheerful."
Pauline Gay said her daughter loved gospel music and recently formed a youth choir at Solid Rock because the church did not have one and she believed it needed one. The choir she formed sang at her funeral service.
She also loved animals and children and was described as being kind to both. She was recently given a guinea pig and lovingly took care of it.
Racquel Wallace, a cousin to Crystal, said, "I will remember her as a giving person. She looked after other people first and she came second most of the time."
Racquel said she spoke with Crystal about two hours before her cousin died, getting instruction from Crystal on how to care for the guinea pig. Crystal's last words to Racquel were "Pray for me," because Crystal was very religious.
"She was all that, a very sweet and caring person and that's how we should remember her ... We should remember her laugh and her walk," her mother said.
She also loved art and drawing cartoons and wanted to attend a college in Virginia, where she could use her talents, her mother said.
Osmond Wallace, Crystal's uncle, said his niece was so soft-hearted. "The family right now is trying to see if it can recuperate and continue, but it's so hard. I'm telling you. I'm sitting here right now and I can't work because of this. It has just taken a toll on the family."
"It's not really disturbing to us," Pauline Gay said about the mystery of her daughter's death. "At least, she didn't suffer."
