Paralyzed student gets donation from school

BEIJING, March 22 -- A Shanghai high school has agreed to pay 200,000 yuan (28,169 U.S. dollars) in compensation to a paralyzed boy who had an athletics accident five years ago.

The Xuhui District People's Court ruled that the school, which was not identified, bore no responsibility for the accident but allowed it to voluntarily compensate the victim's family. The court rejected a request by Xiao Yue, now 21, for nearly four million yuan in compensation.

Medical experts authorized by the court said Xiao's paralysis was directly caused by a cervical cord lesion, an undiagnosed condition he had suffered before the accident.

The court ruled that the fall was simply an unfortunate accident. Xiao said he attended an athletics event organized by the school in October 2002, and registered for the high jump and 1,500-meter run.

During the high jump, he fell on his back. He felt dizzy and went to the school's clinic but, after a brief examination, the doctor said nothing was seriously wrong with him. Xiao asked to be excused from the run, but a teacher told him to finish it.

He lost feeling in his legs a few days after the accident and he was later diagnosed with a spinal injury that caused paraplegia, the court heard.

Xiao told the court his disability resulted from the fall and now he would have to depend on others to take care of him for the rest of his life.

The plaintiff's lawyers said the school should take responsibility for the unsafe sports facilities and the irresponsibility of the physical education teacher and the school doctor.

The school argued that it had made full preparations for any emergency and had taught students to pay attention to safety. Judges said the school's doctor could not be blamed for not diagnosing the condition cervical cord lesion because Xiao didn't show obvious symptoms.

Under national physical education requirements, students must be capable of high-jumping in junior school.

(Source: Shanghai Daily/Xu Fang)