Police Found No Evidence of Negligence or Poor Emergency Treatment

By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

Police have concluded that the cause of death of a 14-year-old American boy, Michael White, who was found head down in a pool at a sauna in Gyeongsan on May 10, North Gyeongsang Province, was through drowning.

Police Tuesday said they found no evidence negligence on the part of sauna employees or poor emergency treatment of medical staff. Gyeongsan Police Station said it received an autopsy report from Busan National University's Medical Jurisprudence Lab stating ``his bronchus, stomach and duodenum were full of water, which means he drowned.''

His mother Stephannie White had no comment on the autopsy result, saying that she has not received the document as yet.

The autopsy said Michael had no external injuries or evidence of brain disorder, while minor liver injuries and arteriosclerosis were found.

According to the report, Michael's heart was apparently larger than that of a normal adult. The weight of his heart was 460 grams, much heavier than that of a normal adult ranging between 300 and 350 grams.

``Michael's heart was apparently at risk of cardiac arrhythmia. We suggest a sudden irregular heartbeat occurred while he was in the bathtub which paralyzed his heart,'' said Lee Geun-woo, chief investigator of Gyeongsan Police.

The report contradicted his mother Stephannie White's allegations that the negligence of sauna workers and paramedics' poor performance were behind the death of her son.

The tragedy took place on May 10, when Stephannie, a lecturer at Yeungnam University, her son Michael and two of her friends visited a jjimjilbang (Korean sauna) around 10:10 p.m. Her son went into the male bathing room, while White and her friends went to the ladies' section. Some considerable time later, sauna staff called the mother to come and check on her son who was in a critical condition.

When she arrived at the scene, which she testified was around 11:48 p.m., her son had already collapsed and emergency staff were putting him into an ambulance.

On arrival at the hospital medical staff tried to resuscitate him through cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), but despite their efforts he was declared dead a few minutes later.

Stephannie has claimed that the paramedics' performance inside the ambulance was poor and that she, a certified and trained lifesaver, could have done better had she been informed earlier.

She also said the medical staff at the hospital did not try to aspirate the fluid from her son's lungs, and did not accurately ascertain his status before declaring him dead.

White has denounced Korean police for not questioning people who were in the sauna when the incident took place to verify what was happening inside.

She also criticized the public negligence toward the boy. ``If anyone had asked him how he was or tried to wake him up earlier when he was coughing or making a noise while trying to get up ㅡ you can hear all that in the sauna ㅡ Mike would be alive,'' she said.

The frustrated mother has asked the American Embassy here to help uncover the truth behind the death.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr