BOSTON (WHDH) - Excel Academy Charter High School in Boston is mourning the loss of a tenth grade student after 15-year-old Christopher DiPrima died in a skiing accident over the weekend.
The incident happened on Pats Peak in New Hampshire on Saturday night.
On Monday, school community members continued to grieve and remember DiPrima as someone who was kind and smart, who loved movies, loved chess and who recently developed a passion for skiing.
DiPrima’s cousin Steven Gingras said DiPrima hit a bump while skiing with his family. Gingras said DiPrima landed wrong and complained he was having chest pains before he died a short time later at a hospital.
“It’s definitely surreal,” Gingras said. “It’s something that we can’t really imagine happening.”
“There was no warning,” Gingras said.
Gingras said DiPrima had learned to ski last year.
He said he was with DiPrima along with DiPrima’s parents and sister during their ski trip.
“The trail he was on, he had gone down several times before,” Gingras said. “He was completely able to handle it.”
“We’re not really sure what went wrong,” Gingras continued. “It was just a total freak accident.”
Excel Academy CEO Owen Stearns said the school community is “devastated” following DiPrima’s death.
“Cristopher was a wonderful young man,” Stearns said.
Stearns said DiPrima was “very into the tech world.”
“Just talking to his dad, he was the kid who went to every relative’s house to fix whatever problem they needed on their computer,” Stearns said.
Excel Academy Charter High School decided to push back its start time Monday and offer counseling to any classmates or staff that needed it.
“Never take for granted the time that you have and the time that you have with people you care most about,” Gingras said.
DiPrima’s family was working on funeral arrangements as of Monday.
School officials said they are waiting to hear those funeral arrangements before planning their own memorial.
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