A 7-year-old boy in Taiwan has died after being in a coma since April 21. The boy, identified only by his surname Huang, suffered a severe brain injury during training exercises in his judo class. He was taken off life support on Tuesday night.
Feng Yuan Hospital said Huang’s condition began to deteriorate in the past few days. Doctors announced that the boy’s blood pressure and heart rate levels were dropping and after being informed, the parent’s made the painful decision to remove him from life support
According to the BBC, the young judo student was repeatedly slammed in class by his coach and an older student. The coach reportedly ordered students to practice their throws and pulled Huang to the mat.
Huang’s uncle was at his judo class at the time and had been recording the session to show his mother that judo was not suitable for the young boy. In the video, Huang could be seen participating during practice throws of an older classmate. He was thrown several times and could be heard screaming in the video pleading for the exercise to stop as he vomited.
His coach, identified only as Ho, then orders him to stand up and tells the older student to continue throwing him down but then he proceeds to pick up the boy and throws him down to the ground himself. The boy was reportedly thrown a total of 27 times during the class.
Huang eventually passes out, though his uncle says his coach accused him of faking unconsciousness. He became unresponsive and was taken to hospital but he never regained consciousness.
Questions have been pouring as to why Huang’s uncle did not stop the coach after seeing the boy suffer. However, experts say that in Taiwan, there is a long-seated respect and reverence for teachers whose authority is accepted regardless of the circumstances.
The coach, who is in his late 60’s, has been charged with physical assault resulting in serious injury and using children to commit a crime. Prosecutors will now change his charges because the victim died.
He was later found out to be teaching judo without a license and offering classes in the central Taiwanese city of Fengyuan for free. Ho claimed that the throws were part of normal training, even though Huang was a new student and hadn't yet acquired the skills to protect himself. The investigation continues and if found guilty, he could face a minimum of seven years in jail or life imprisonment.
