Thai girl battles rhabdomyolysis after harsh school punishment in northern Thailand

A tale of a young girl in the eighth grade, known only as Lalida, sparked outrage in the small tambon Klang community of Selaphum district, Roi Et. Lalida is currently battling a severe case of rhabdomyolysis, a dangerous affliction that involves the breakdown of injured skeletal muscle. This condition has rendered her unable to walk and she remains confined to her room, following the harsh school punishment.

Lalida’s 60 year old father, Sermvit Singha, revealed that his daughter’s condition is a consequence of a disciplinary punishment at school. He specified that a physical education teacher had ordered Lalida to do 100 squat jumps as punishment for forgetting her badminton racquet. This school punishment incident occurred last Monday, and despite sustaining a muscle injury during the punishment, Lalida did not inform her parents and attended school the following day after taking a painkiller.

However, by Thursday, the pain escalated to an unbearable level. Upon learning about her injury, her parents promptly took her to the hospital. Sermvit shared the doctor’s diagnosis of rhabdomyolysis, indicating potentially lethal complications such as kidney damage. While the doctors recommended hospitalisation for Lalida, she chose to recuperate at home.

Following the viral spread of Lalida’s story on social media, the school director and the physical education teacher, who commanded the school punishment, visited Lalida at home. They proposed a financial settlement to the family in return for deleting the original social media post, reported Bangkok Post.

Despite their offer, Sermvit remains worried about his daughter’s health and insists that he will not accept any compensation until Lalida has fully recovered. He revealed that this sort of harsh disciplinary action wasn’t an isolated incident, stating that the same teacher has been known to discipline other students in a similar manner.

In light of this, Sermvit expressed his disapproval of such extreme punishment in schools, urging the school management to contemplate disciplinary action against the teacher. Reportedly, the school director has already reprimanded the teacher.

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