March 11, 2004

Gym teacher from Hell: It seems the woman made a boy perform so many push-ups that it caused kidney failure.

My question is why a gym teacher, someone who should be reasonably well-educated as to what children of certain ages can and can't do, allowed this to happen. I could easily do 73 push-ups now, but I'm 16. I know I wouldn't have been able to do over 70 push-ups at age 7. I was inclined to wonder if the kid actually did that many at first, but even if he didn't really do that many he seems to have done enough to cause damage.

posted by anonymous 20 years ago
  • There is way too little information to understand the whole story. To me it appears to have been written for the shock value. (Local news stooping to that level? Heaven forfend!) That no lawyer will take the case is a red flag. Is this story by the kid believable, Katahdin? They did not offer any corroboration.
  • Seventy-three? In a row? At any rate, if he had to do the pushups in front of the class, wouldn't some of the other students be able to corroborate? Shocking indeed.
  • I'll admit 73 is probly more than he actually did, but if his muscles were still swollen hours after and he was peeing dark red, then it seems to me somethings wrong there. As to the other kids, the article didn't mention if anyone thought to ask them what happened. If it weren't for the Doctor's statement then I'd probly think it was an overprotective parent overreacting. But the fact he was examined and hospitalized makes me think maybe the parent was in the right here.
  • Obviously the teacher was way way way over the top in her punishment, but I have one little question. I know nothing about biology, but the article makes it seem like he didn't actually suffer from kidney failure. It says that his muscles were breaking down and the toxic byproduct was entering his bloodstream. The doctor says: "The danger is that it can occasionally block the kidneys and lead to some amount of kidney failure" It really doesn't make it clear that that's actually what happened in this particular case. If anyone can clarify, that would be very much appreciated.
  • What I find interesting, and telling to an extent, is that the physician did not report this to the authorities. In most states physicians are required by law to report suspected child abuse to the authorities. The article mentions nothing on this point. The only mention of action is the note that was written 'chiding' the teacher.
  • There is way too little information to understand the whole story. To me it appears to have been written for the shock value. (Local news stooping to that level? Heaven forfend!) That no lawyer will take the case is a red flag. Is this story by the kid believable, Katahdin? They did not offer any corroboration. Bingo, give this monkey a kewpie doll
  • As mentioned, there is obviously too little info in the article to allow a proper judgement. That said, one bit of trivia that should be kept in mind...I know from personal experience that the amount of exercise that can provoke an extreme bodily reaction in a person can vary greatly, even in the same person. The number of push-ups that caused an extreme reaction in this one boy might well have been the same number that any number of other boys, or even the same boy in an earlier instance, partook in completely unharmed.
  • Agreed with everyone this is an incomplete, and possibly poorly-written news story. I get the impression it was all done from the news desk by telephone (no real journalism).
  • timmus: as a former journo I'd say about 95% of news stories are done from the newsdesk by telephone ...