Newspaper articles of judo injuries resulting in death: 1984 – 2010 [26]
High school student dies from suffocation after PE: parents sue prefecture
The Asahi Shimbun
November 23, 1997
The parents of a first year student of Sendai Daini High School, who died from suffocation after PE class, filed a lawsuit against the prefecture in the Sendai District Court. They complained that the school neglected safety considerations for their son, who had asthma, and sought compensation of about 85 million yen. The Prefectural Board of Education said that they would carefully discuss the issue. The plaintiff stated that requests had been made to the school to be aware of their son’s condition, especially when conducting vigorous exercises. Therefore the PE teacher must have known about his physical condition. They claimed that the school violated their safety obligations.
The student participated in judo practice matches and randori (free sparring) during PE on Dec. 19 of last year. Immediately after that, he obtained permission to go to the rest room, and half an hour later he was found lying in front of the toilet. He was taken to hospital, where they indicated he died of suffocation due to asthma.
The son had had allergic asthma since he was 6 years old. When he started junior high school the parents submitted a letter to the school explaining his condition, requesting special consideration during PE and other activities. The petition stated that the teacher, despite their request, made him take part in judo matches, which had a physical burden on him, and that the teacher did nothing when he did not return from the restroom. Therefore it claimed that the teacher neglected his duty of care.
However, the school wrote to the parents after the incident stating that it was an unforeseen, inevitable accident because nothing unusual with the student had been noticed during the class, and that while the teacher was concerned about him after he went to the restroom, he was unable to leave the class.
