By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
An elementary school student died during a school physical education test.
Twelve-year-old Seo, an elementary school senior in Euijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, collapsed around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday while running a 1,000-meter-course. She had performed push-ups, a 50-meter-run and sit-up trials before the course.
According to witnesses, Seo fainted soon after she started running. She said she felt dizzy and couldn't see things properly. Teachers said she was sent to the sickroom but when she didn't feel any better, they called for an ambulance. During transport, Seo fell unconscious and died around 1:30 p.m.
The hospital assumes pulmonary edema stemming from a heart disorder to be the cause of death.
However, the bereaved family is raising suspicions that the schoolteachers hadn't taken her health status serious enough. Seo's friends testified that the teacher hadn't taken Seo immediately to hospital after Seo said she could not continue anymore. Also the school wasn't equipped with emergency facilities in case of such an incident.
bjs@koreatimes.co.kr