An intramural event turned into a tragedy after a senior high school student from Our Lady of Perpetual Succor College (OLOPSC) in Marikina, suddenly collapsed which eventually led to his unfortunate death.
In an official statement, OLOPSC disclosed details on the case. Shann Mikhail Estaquio was a grade eleven student who was part of their school’s mini-olympics and was playing basketball, until he “suddenly collapsed” at 9:27 am on their school grounds. The emergency was attended to by the school’s medical responders prior to the arrival of the ambulance. However, Estaquio passed away less than two hours later at 11:06 AM.
The school announced that they will extend “any and all forms of assistance” toward Estaquio’s bereaved family such as financial and emotional support. In line with this, OLOPSC stated that it will provide guidance counseling for its students who witnessed the distressing incident. They specified that their guidance office will conduct stress briefings and grief counseling.
However, OLOPSC’s statement was met with distaste from social media users based on the post’s garnered reactions and within the comment section. The users criticized the school for the poor delivery of their official statement and the use of insensitive words such as “expired at the hospital.” Although a medically correct term, users echoed that the use of the term was unwarranted during such circumstances.
The users also observed the lack of medical resources such as an ambulance on standby given that it was a sporting event. It was also alleged that the school and involved staff lacked of sense of urgency in responding to Estaquio’s emergency.
In light of the incident, the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines (SCAP) called to hold OLOPSC accountable on their Facebook post last February 24. They stated, “This is not just incompetence; this is negligence that cost a young person’s life.”
They also criticized OLOPSC for downplaying the severity of the incident after the school mentioned in their statement that Estaquio’s case was “unforeseen and isolated.” SCAP condemned the school for its failure to recognize its medical lapses. The alliance claimed that it was not a mere accident but “a systematic failure” on OLOPSC’s end.
SCAP demanded justice for Estaquio and reiterated that the tragedy should not be silenced or forgotten. “No student should ever have to suffer due to a school’s failure to act responsibly,” they expressed.
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