PUBLISHED : 28 Aug 2023 at 04:30
A father is demanding justice for his eighth-grade daughter who suffers from potentially life-threatening rhabdomyolysis following a disciplinary punishment ordered by her teacher in Roi Et.
The story of the girl, identified only as Lalida, from a local school in tambon Klang of Selaphum district, was first exposed on social media by popular webpage “Yak Dang Diew Jad Hai (Limelight Generator) Return Part 6”.
Sermvit Singha, 60, the girl’s father, said his daughter remains unwell as the condition, which involves the breakdown of injured skeletal muscle, has left her unable to walk and confined to her room at home.
He says Lalida was made to do 100 squat jumps by her physical education teacher last Monday as punishment for not bringing a badminton racquet to school.
The girl sustained a muscle injury during the jumps but did not tell her parents about it. She took a pain killer and went to school the next day.
However, by Thursday the pain had worsened and became intolerable. And when she finally told her parents about the injury they took her to hospital immediately.
Mr Sermvit also uploaded a doctor’s diagnosis confirming rhabdomyolysis and warning about potentially fatal complications that might arise from damage to her kidneys as a result.
Doctors advised the girl be admitted to hospital and placed under observation. However, the girl refused and asked to be cared for at home.
After the girl’s ordeal went viral, the school director and the PE teacher who ordered the punishment visited her at home and offered to pay the family some compensation in exchange for removing the original post.
The family remains concerned the girl’s illness might deteriorate further and Mr Sermvit has insisted he will not pick up any compensation from the school until Lalida is completely cured.
The father said he heard the PE teacher often disciplined other students in a similar way.
He criticised the teacher for ordering excessive punishment which he argued has no place in schools.
Mr Sermvit said the school management should consider whether to take disciplinary action against the teacher.
It was reported the school director has reprimanded the teacher already.