Accidents happen

Channel Newsasia

NS recruit dies after fainting during training activity

Posted: 10 June 2008 1757 hrs

SINGAPORE: A 20-year-old national serviceman died in hospital, nearly two hours after he fainted during training on Pulau Tekong on Tuesday morning. Recruit Andrew Cheah Wei Siong from the Basic Military Training Centre fainted at 8.35am while he was taking part in a 2km walk training activity on the island.He was rushed to the medical centre and arrived within five minutes. He was given immediate medical attention by the doctors.

At 9.24am, Mr Cheah was evacuated by helicopter to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH).
The medical team from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) continued to resuscitate him en route. But, they failed to revive him and he was pronounced dead at 10.50am at SGH.
MINDEF and the SAF extend their deepest condolences to his family. MINDEF says it will help the family in their time of grief and is investigating the incident.

Mr Cheah is the second national serviceman to die suddenly this year. In January, 41-year-old Major Tan Yit Guan collapsed and died after a run with colleagues.
Before those two cases, 25-year-old Captain Ho Si Qiu died after completing the 21km Singapore Bay Run in August last year.

Heart specialist Michael Lim says there are two leading causes of sudden death in young adults.
The first is an inherited condition that leads to thickening of the heart muscle which affects the heart's ability to pump blood.
The second is myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle caused by an infection.
Dr Lim says these conditions can be detected easily with an electrocardiogram or ECG.
MINDEF says ECGs are carried out on all servicemen during the medical screening before they are enlisted. Although Andrew Cheah was slightly obese and had had asthma as a child, MINDEF says he passed the medical screening and was given a clean bill of health. - CNA/ir

The fact that he is mildly obese rings a very familiar bell. There is a very strong chance he could be from Eagle Company, the same company I used to be in. Either way, I can emphathise totally with the commanders, the recruits and the medical staff there. Trust me, this incident would have serious repercussions that might very well rock the island. MINDEF will most definitely conduct a full scale investigation and I believe no chain of command would be spared. I am thanking my lucky stars that no unfortunate events took place during my stay there because how do you even bring yourself to meet the parents of this deceased recruit,the very same people who have entrusted you with the heavy responsibilities of taking care of their son just a few days ago. That prospect alone is unimaginable.