Class 11 Student Dies During Sports Meet at Odisha School, Second Such Incident in a Month

On Wednesday, at the school's annual sports meet held at the Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) in Sundargarh district, a class eleven student named Jaydeep Sagar Beka collapsed and died in a relay race. The death has raised further suspicions regarding health and emergency preparedness issues surrounding most of the residential schools in the country.

As per information gathered by staff members of EMRS from the incident site, since Jaydeep was running in the relay race and was feeling ill while running his first 100 m, he carried on with it and completed it; however, he withdrew from it as he was feeling dizzy and nauseated after completing it. When he was seated on a chair nearby, he suddenly collapsed.

As soon as the collapse happened, the staff members started attempts to bring him back through cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and took him to a nearby government medical college. The death of the student was verified by the medical team that provided care. This was the second incident in which a school-age athlete died in circumstances related to taking part in an athletic event in Odisha.

The school staff attempted to resuscitate the student using CPR but transported him to the closest government medical college, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival by physicians; this confirmation of Jaydeep's death was made by a teacher.

The death of this student during an athletic competition in Odisha is the second occurrence within one month, and has caused alarm among both parents and education officials. In December 2021, a 10th-grade boy attending Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) collapsed during participation in a football game and subsequently died; this event has brought to light an alarming trend that has developed at many residential schools in Odisha.

Jaydeep was described by his educators as being an exceptionally disciplined and intelligent young man who enrolled at EMRS only six months ago. The suddenness of his passing has created a sense of disbelief among both his colleagues and educators.

The local administration has launched an investigation in pursuit of a complete overview of events surrounding this instance; specifically whether sufficient medical provisions, health examination processes and emergency response procedures existed during the Annual Sports Meeting. Officials will also be investigating whether standardised protocols for safety compliance were followed.