Our own columnist Mike McStay picked up this news story that bears repeating:
An American mother sued the Korean government Friday for 450 million won in compensation over her son’s alleged drowning in a sauna in a southern city. The bereaved mother claimed that Korean paramedic management was poor and the legal system prevents people from helping others in emergency situations.
According to the Daegu District Court, Stephannie White, 41, has filed a compensation suit against the central government and local South Gyeongsang Provincial government for having “let her son die due to poor emergency measures.”
The accident took place on May 10 last year, when White and her 14-year-old son Michael visited the R[deleted] Sauna in Gyeongsang, near Daegu. He was found unconscious in a pool soon after arriving. Emergency staff rushed him to a nearby hospital and tried to resuscitate him via cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), but the boy was declared dead a few minutes later.
As someone who has been active in the Daejeon community in the past, we wish Stephannie White luck in getting at least some answers in the process, and hopefully a chance for something better to come of this that will help others.
The backstory on the unexpected death of Michael White is here. You can read more of Stephannie White’s efforts here at the site Mightie Mike. Past stories on Socius here and here.
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Thank you all for your comments (even the not so nice ones)\’85 keeping the case in discussion is one way of raising awareness of the issues involved.
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There is now a forum page on the MightieMike website. It\’92s an attempt to consolidate the various topics and discussion threads into one location (or at least mostly at one place)
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It was just uploaded last night, so it may take a bit for things to get rolling with folks making comments\’85 or maybe not.
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Thank you again and I sincerely hope to turn this tragic situation into one of positive growth.