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Jax Heights field to be named for 12-year-old boy who died from sepsis

Jax Heights field to be named for 12-year-old boy who died from sepsis
Photo courtesy Rory Staunton Foundation
By Phil Corso

A sports field used by the Garden School in Jackson Heights will be named in memory of a 12-year-old sepsis victim, who was once a student there.

The school recently agreed to sell the field to the city, which is using the land to expand nearby Travers Park. The area once used by students between Northern Boulevard and 34th Avenue will be dedicated as the Rory Staunton Field Monday morning during a ceremony.

Rory became seriously ill in March 2012 when he fell in the school gym, cutting his arm while playing basketball, his father said in an interview earlier this year. His family believes that through his cut Rory developed sepsis – a medical condition in which an infection causes a reaction in the immune system that leads to full-body inflammation. Rory died in April 2012.

Reach reporter Phil Corso by e-mail at pcorso@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.