7-year-old 'brain dead' after swimming lesson
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E-mail China Daily, July 30, 2013
A swimming coach in Chongqing may face criminal charges after forcing a girl into the water during a lesson at a sports club on Friday, after which she nearly drowned.
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A swimming coach in Chongqing may face criminal charges after forcing a girl into the water during a lesson at a sports club on Friday, after which she nearly drowned. [Photo/China Daily] |
The 7-year-old girl was pronounced brain dead on Saturday.
A man who witnessed the event told China Daily that he saw a woman in a black swimming suit dragging the girl into the pool at the HP Fitness Club in Yubei district on Friday afternoon.
The girl did not have any buoyancy aids, and struggled in the water for a few minutes before drowning, said the eyewitness, who wished to be identified only by his surname, Ma.
The girl was then spotted by a male lifeguard, who pulled her from the water and attempted to resuscitate her, said Ma.
Describing the woman who dragged the girl into the water, Ma said that he thought she was a "tiger mother", meaning a mother who pushes her child to succeed, and this is why he did not intervene.
The girl's mother, surnamed Wang, was too grief-stricken to talk to China Daily on Monday.
According to Chongqing Morning Post, Wang said on Saturday that she was not allowed to enter the pool during her daughter's lesson because she was wearing a dress on that day, and only people wearing swimming suits were allowed into the pool area.
The mother then waited in the lobby downstairs until someone informed her that her daughter had drowned.
The girl was sent to the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. A spokeswoman for the hospital said the girl was almost dead when she arrived.
"Her pulse was very weak and her heart had almost stopped. ... Although she has a weak heart beat now, she has been confirmed brain dead, and the chance of survival is low," said the spokeswoman, who would not be named.
Chongqing police said they have filed the case for investigation, but would not give further details, such as whether the swimming coach was properly licensed.
Li Yang, the club's manager on duty on Monday, confirmed that a customer drowned in the club last week but said that he didn't know much about the incident because he was not in charge of the case.
However, he said that the swimming coach involved in the case had been suspended.
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