In recent days, there have been reports of the sudden death of a junior high school girl in Guangdong, mainland China. The incident occurred as the school’s infirmary was far from the location, which resulted in the inability to provide timely assistance. This marks the second student sudden death incident at the school this year. The frequent occurrences of sudden deaths on mainland China’s campuses this year have raised concerns in society.
According to sources familiar with the matter, a female student at Boya School in Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, experienced convulsions and foaming at the mouth in a ninth-floor classroom on the 22nd. However, due to the distance between the classroom and the school infirmary, apart from the school doctor, no one present was trained in emergency procedures. Consequently, even though the vice principal was on the scene, they were unable to provide assistance and could only watch helplessly.
It was mentioned that the student passed away before being taken to the hospital, with the cause cited as a heart attack. It was noted that the student had been feeling unwell the day before the incident and had requested leave, which was denied by the teacher. When the student’s parents did not arrive on the 24th, many of her relatives came to the school and caused a commotion. This incident represents the school’s second sudden death this year, with a previous case in the last semester where a student collapsed while running due to a sudden heart attack.
Sudden deaths among students on mainland campuses have been frequent this year. Some incidents were reported by mainland media, some were announced by schools, and many were disclosed online by the families and friends of the deceased for the purpose of mourning.
As reported by the China Perspective News, on the morning of November 11th, a 14-year-old student from Mianzhu Experimental School in Deyang, Sichuan, collapsed during morning exercise and was pronounced brain dead. At the scene, there was no accompanying teacher for the run, and after the classmates carried the student off the track and sought help from the school doctor, no attempts at resuscitation were made. The family questioned the missed golden rescue time, leading to the child’s brain death.
On October 24th, Guilin College reported a sudden death incident involving a new student. The incident involved a student named Lei from the 2024 class of the School of Sports and Health at Guilin College. He collapsed suddenly in his dormitory around 10:15 am on November 19th, was transported by ambulance to the 924 hospital for rescue efforts, but unfortunately, the rescue was unsuccessful, and the cause of death was cited as “sudden cardiac death and acute myocardial infarction.”
In mid-October, Anhui province reported a case of a “sudden death of a high school junior girl while running.” The Huainan City Education Bureau issued a notice stating that on October 12th at 4:00 pm, a 16-year-old high school junior from the 12th Middle School in Huainan suddenly collapsed while running during physical education class. Immediate rescue efforts were initiated by the attending teachers, and the student was rushed to the hospital by an ambulance, but unfortunately, the attempts to save her life were in vain, and the cause of death was diagnosed as “respiratory and cardiac arrest.”
Reported by Tianjin Broadcasting, a high school senior collapsed during morning exercise. On October 11th, Yi’yang County Second High School issued a situation report stating that on October 7th at 7:30 am during the flag-raising ceremony, a senior student named Zhang, aged 17, suddenly collapsed. An ambulance was called to transfer the student to the hospital for rescue efforts, but at 9:29 am, the hospital declared the student’s death, diagnosing it as “respiratory cardiac arrest.”
The Education Bureau of Fumian District, Yulin City, Guangxi, announced that on September 30th around 2:40 pm, a seventh-grade student named Wei, aged 13, at the Second Junior High School in Fumian Town felt unwell after warm-up exercises during physical education class (a collective slow run). Despite on-site medical staff’s rescue efforts, the student was transferred to the First People’s Hospital of Yulin at 3:50 pm, but unfortunately, the rescue attempts were futile, resulting in the student’s death.
As reported by Hong Kong 01, on April 12th, a 14-year-old boy who enrolled in Jinhua Sports School collapsed while running laps during physical training. Despite completing 15 laps (each lap being 400 meters), he collapsed during the run. However, the school administration denied that his death was caused by excessive training.
According to the headline of Yangcheng, a student died suddenly while doing morning exercises in Yinchuan. On April 18th, the school reported that at 9:05 am during morning exercise activities on April 12th, all students assembled for exercise. At 9:16 am, a freshman student named Ma suddenly collapsed, and the school doctor immediately initiated emergency measures. The student was rushed to the hospital by ambulance at 9:22 am for rescue efforts. Unfortunately, at 11:55 am, the hospital declared the student dead, citing a diagnosis of “respiratory cardiac arrest.”
As reported by Shenzhou Evening News, on April 18th, the Jilin Provincial Department of Education issued a situation report concerning the sudden death of a student at Baicheng Medical College in Jilin Province on April 12th at 6:25 am. The student, Zhao, collapsed before morning exercise began while moving from the dormitory to the assembly point. He was later taken to Baicheng Central Hospital for rescue efforts but was declared dead on April 14th at 3:52 am, despite the rescue attempts.
On October 30th, a netizen from Shanxi shared that, “A relative’s child, who recently turned 14 and entered the third year of junior high school, suddenly died in his sleep. The school compensated tens of thousands of yuan. Since the school is located in a rural area and lacks a medical room, the school did not organize medical examinations. To be honest, this illness had nothing to do with the presence of a medical room; it was just a momentary event.”
On October 17th, a netizen named “Lanhu Shanzhuang” revealed that a classmate from Fudan University in Shanghai, a member of the 21st class, passed away suddenly. They expressed disbelief, stating, “It’s quite outrageous. I heard a few days ago that someone at Fudan had a sudden death and saw it in the news at night, but when I returned to check the next day, it was gone. This truly demonstrates the power of Fudan’s public relations, so sometimes having no bad reputation is not because you’re doing well but because you’re well-protected.”
On October 11th, a netizen from Shandong mentioned on a forum about a sports teacher at the school who collapsed while playing football the previous night and later passed away. The teacher had been teaching as usual during the day, “coaching children on the field every day, around the same age as us and still young. It happened too suddenly; life is truly fleeting.”
On October 9th, a 10-year-old girl from Xiangshun Experimental School in Xinxing County, Yunfu City, Guangdong, had an accident during a physical education class, and despite being taken to the hospital for rescue efforts, she unfortunately passed away that day. Several videos on Douyin (Chinese TikTok) were circulating, demanding the truth and accountability from the school, as they believed the school’s announcement was evasive and failed to address the real issues. The family was utterly discontent with the situation.
In July, a netizen from Sichuan shared, “My husband’s sister, aged 25, suddenly passed away. She had just graduated from her master’s program, started her doctorate in September, and ended up dying in her dormitory. Life goes on as usual.”
The post sparked a discussion with nearly ten thousand people participating in the comments section, where there were 9181 comments.
Among them, a user replied, “Yes, yes, I have had this issue for a long time. When I bend down and stand up, my heartbeat suddenly accelerates, and it feels like my heart is about to jump out of my chest. The probability is that even over 140 sometimes.”
A blogger from Shanxi working in design, mentioned, “Around me, seven people in the same industry died suddenly this year, everyone just passed away out of nowhere, and they were all young, around 30-40 years old. It’s directly related to Covid, 100%. Remember, not to overwork; sudden death seems to be caused by exhaustion.”
Dr. Wang Chao, the head of the ultrasound medicine department at Shanghai Renhe Hospital, recently wrote about findings from a top domestic conference on Oriental Cardiology held near the Oriental Pearl Tower from June 27th to 30th. Researchers shared reports on myocardial inflammation symptoms in suspected cases during the early stage of Covid infection. Despite normal test results, high-resolution electron microscope observations revealed that 70% of the cases showed abnormal mitochondrial structures. This suggests that the impact of the Covid virus on the heart has a cellular basis, with mitochondrial damage affecting heart energy production and cell metabolism, which could contribute to the development of cardiovascular diseases.
The research report indicates that even after more than 3 months since recovering from acute Covid infection, mitochondrial damage persists. Therefore, the research team recommends that athletes who have recovered from Covid should pause training for at least 3 months to avoid intense physical activity.