On the eve of the autumn semester, a 13-year-old girl in Kunming, Yunnan, suddenly collapsed and died during the rehearsal for a cheerleading performance. Her family has recently spoken out, suggesting that the girl’s sudden death may have been caused by the school’s high-intensity training and inadequate on-site rescue measures.
According to a report from “Huashang Daily News” on September 26th, Zhu Huan (pseudonym), a 13-year-old girl from Kunming, Yunnan, who had been learning dance for 9 years, collapsed during the rehearsal of a cheerleading performance at Kunming Steel Experimental School in Anning City, Yunnan, on the evening of August 31.
Zhu Huan’s older brother, Xiao Zhu, a 21-year-old senior at a university in Kunming, told the media on September 20 that his younger sister attended Kunming Steel Experimental School, where she had been studying dance for 9 years. She used to go for indoor dance training every Saturday at a training institution, and there had never been any abnormal incidents before.
Xiao Zhu mentioned that his sister was supposed to be resting at home during the summer vacation, but due to the school’s opening ceremony performance requirements, she began rehearsing cheerleading at the school from August 26 onwards.
On August 31, Xiao Zhu accompanied his younger sister to the school for rehearsals. At 6:14 PM, their mother received a sudden call from their sister’s classmate’s parent that the sister had suddenly gone into shock. The mother immediately ran from a nearby agricultural market to the school about one or two kilometers away.
When the mother arrived at the school gate, an ambulance had just arrived. The medical personnel in the ambulance found the younger sister around 6:25 PM, about 30 minutes after she fainted. Xiao Zhu said, “My sister fainted a little after 6 p.m… When she was taken away, it had been over thirty minutes before she was taken to the hospital.” He added, “The emergency call to 120 was made by onlookers, and there were two teachers present at that time.”
Afterwards, through inquiring with his sister’s classmates and reviewing surveillance footage obtained by the police, the family learned that in the days leading up to the incident, the training sessions had been from 2:00 PM to 5:30 PM, but on August 31st, it was extended by half an hour. The training began indoors at 2:00 PM, followed by multiple outdoor training sessions, and another outdoor session at 5:30 PM.
The temperature in Kunming that day was over 20 degrees Celsius, with intense sunlight exposure. The dance rehearsal room was small with poor ventilation, making it stuffy and hot. The family speculated that the combination of high-intensity training and the hot environment may have contributed to the girl’s sudden death.
Xiao Zhu learned from his sister’s classmates that after she collapsed face down, the teacher flipped her over and performed simple first aid measures. The sister briefly regained consciousness. The teacher knew that it would take 20 minutes for the emergency medical services to arrive but did not shield her from the sun, offer water, or move her to a shaded area.
Xiao Zhu said, “The doctor said that when she was brought onto the ambulance, she had stopped breathing. They injected adrenaline to revive her for a few seconds, then she passed away.” After half an hour of resuscitation attempts at the hospital, the doctor issued a death certificate citing sudden death, expressing suspicion that it might have been related to the intensity of her training that day, which would need confirmation through an autopsy.
The school stated that they had previously purchased group liability insurance for the students, with a maximum payout of 1.2 million yuan, charging each student 35 yuan. Xiao Zhu mentioned that after negotiations between the insurance company and the school, it was deemed that the school bore 20% of the responsibility. The insurance company paid 250,000 yuan, and an additional 30,000 yuan was offered as a “humanitarian” compensation by the school, totaling 280,000 yuan to be paid to Zhu’s family. If the family does not accept, they can resort to legal procedures.
However, if legal action were to be taken, an autopsy would be required, which the family finds difficult to agree to as the parents are farmers with limited means and cannot afford a legal battle. Currently, negotiations have reached a deadlock, and the family has not received a proper apology. The girl’s body remains in the funeral parlor without a burial arrangement, leaving the family at a loss.
This incident has sparked public concern.
Some netizens commented, “Schools nowadays conduct activities by making children rehearse vigorously for at least half a month! They don’t let them leave after school, and the children have to come early in the morning. They don’t provide a good environment, making the kids rehearse in the hallways during the scorching summer, without a classroom, without even a fan! Whose child wouldn’t feel distressed? Teachers directly pick students without giving them the opportunity to refuse! They dare to be angry but don’t dare to speak! They rehearse until 7 or 8 PM after school, and don’t even let the children have dinner, only providing a piece of bread!”
“Where isn’t this atmosphere now? Kindergartens start rehearsing for Children’s Day in March, with such high intensity that kids can dream about it.”
“How was this 20% responsibility determined? Does it mean that an underage person bears 80% of the responsibility? Isn’t the school primarily responsible while the students are attending?”