AKRON — It was a brain injury that ended the life of 17-year-old Evelyn E. Bolen, who died this week after a fellow student at Tippecanoe Valley High School ran into her while riding a bicycle, according to the Allen County Coroner’s office.

The coroner’s office released the cause of death Friday, also listing it as an accident.

Evelyn, a special needs student, was walking around the school’s running track with two other students and a student helper Tuesday during gym class, according to the report from the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department.

Another student, a 15-year-old boy who couldn’t participate in the class because he didn’t bring shorts, took the gym teacher’s bike and started riding it in the opposite direction as the other students, the report states.

The boy told police that, as he was riding, he looked back after he thought he heard someone call his name. Then he looked forward and saw Evelyn right in front of him. He told police that he grabbed the brakes, causing him to flip over the bike into Evelyn.

School employees performed CPR on Evelyn until an ambulance came. She was flown to Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, where she died Wednesday night.

The boy suffered arm and shoulder injuries. He expressed his deep regret in interviews with police.

The coroner’s office reported that Evelyn had an abnormality at the base of her skull, not related to the accident, that compromised her brain stem. That condition was a contributing factor in her death, according to the coroner.

School Superintendent Brett Boggs said Evelyn, a junior, was a popular student who’s been attending schools in the district since kindergarten.

"She's got a lot of friends and everybody knew her," he said.