MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) -- A 14-year-old from Medford has died from a rare complication of a viral infection, called myocarditis, which began with mild cold-like symptoms just over a week ago.

Katie Richards, who recently finished the eighth grade at Hedrick Middle School, was described as a healthy, active teenager until becoming ill. She was first rushed to Rogue Valley Medical Center, then transferred to Oregon Health & Sciences University.

"I just want to thank everyone in Medford for their prayers and their support," her father, Curtis Richards, told The Mail Tribune of Medford. "And I wanted to let them know that Katie fought all the way."

Doctors say that there are two types of myocarditis. One form is called acute myocarditis, which can linger for weeks or even months before a person shows symptoms. In the other, fulminate myocarditis, a virus strikes suddenly, making a healthy-seeming person deathly ill within a day or two.

Dr. Michael Silberbach, a professor of pediatric cardiology at OHSU and Doernbecher Children's Hospital, said that the sudden infection that struck Katie was extremely rare and he had never seen anything like it.

Twice from late Monday night until Katie's death in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, doctors used a defibrillator to bring her back from cardiac arrest. Curtis Richards said it took longer and longer to bring her heart back to normal rates each time.

Katie's father has asked that an autopsy be performed on his daughter to determine the cause of the virus.

Katie was a member of the Hedrick honor roll and the National Junior Honor Society. She had hoped for a career in medicine.

Curtis Richards said his family will have a gaping hole in Katie's absence, adding that his daughter "was such a special kid."