Karen
05-17-2008, 01:32 AM
This is from an original message posted by Corina Fransen on expatskorea@yahoogroups.com
Hello everyone,
I am writing to let you know about a silent compassion vigil which was held at the American Embassy in Seoul on Friday, May 16th, 2008. The vigil was held in the memory of Stephen Michael White. There will also be another silent vigil at the Gyeongsan Royal Hawaii Sauna on Sunday, May 18th. (Gyeongsan is a 10 minute train ride from DongDageu Station).
Michael was a 14 year old member of our expats community. Some of you may know him, or his mother, Stephannie White, from KOTESOL, Hoseo University, KonKuk University, Yeungnam University or from expat events. On Saturday evening, May 10th, we went to the Royal Hawaii Sauna to relax after a long day and the unthinkable happened. While Michael was in the men's side of the spa, he was drowned in a shallow cold pool.
Michael was nearly 6 ft tall and a strong swimmer. He was versed in how to be safe with regards to paying attention to his heart and breathing in sauna/hot tubs. He was in excellent health and had no preconsisting conditions, or conditions discovered in the autopsy that would have caused him to drown on his own.
His mother and I were not notified that there was an emergency with Michael until sometime after an ambulance had arrived. Later in the week we were informed that the ambulance was apparently called at 11:02 pm, but we were not notified until 11:45 pm. Both of us have first responder training and might have been able to save his life.
Everything surrounding Michael's death was a horrible chain of people's unwillingness to act promptly and properly. The poor response was from every level of response Michael received from the patrons at the spa with him, to the staff, to the paramedics who
arrived without oxygen, equipment to monitor vital signs or paddles to restart the heart, to the emergency room staff and finally the police who didn't bother to close the spa and hold everyone inside for questioning.
The autopsy showed he suffered damage to his throat, lungs & back of his mouth from extreme coughing & retching. Even if no one was in the room the sounds should have been echoing to alert staff/patrons that someone was in distress. The doctor who did the autopsy said there was a strong time frame when Mike could have been revived if folks had 1) responded to his distress 2) the staff didn't presume to know Mike's medical condition without training 3) the ambulance had come earlier 4) THE STAFF HAD THOUGHT TO NOTIFY MIKE'S MOTHER!!!!
Please don't let this tragedy go unnoticed. There are so many questions that his mother and those of us who loved him want answered. It is likely that we will never know everything exactly, but we need to push the powers that be to at least try to find justice for Michael.
Please join in one of the silent vigils if you are able. Please forward this e-mail to others in the expats community who may not be on this site. Please forward this e-mail to other expat sites that you know of. Please forward this e-mail to any members of the American military bases who might also be interested in not letting Mike be forgotten.
There is a facebook group started in Michael's memory. The group is called: A Mother is looking for answers about her son.
There are many questions she wants answered, but some of the questions she wants fellow expats to ask with her are as follows: 1. Are there government regulations about safety procedures both for customers and staff in public baths? If yes, does Royal Hawaii follow those regulations?
2. Were resuscitation measures done before the paramedics arrived?
3. Why didn't the staff try to find Mother immediately?
4. How come nobody tried to help Michael when he was coughing & retching?
5. Why didn't anyone come forward with a statement to the police about what happened to Michael?
6. What gives the Sauna the right/medical authority to call in a
false DOA?
Again, please give your time and support.
In Memory of Michael,
This is from an original message posted by Corina Fransen
on expatskorea@yahoogroups.com
Hello everyone,
I am writing to let you know about a silent compassion vigil which was held at the American Embassy in Seoul on Friday, May 16th, 2008. The vigil was held in the memory of Stephen Michael White. There will also be another silent vigil at the Gyeongsan Royal Hawaii Sauna on Sunday, May 18th. (Gyeongsan is a 10 minute train ride from DongDageu Station).
Michael was a 14 year old member of our expats community. Some of you may know him, or his mother, Stephannie White, from KOTESOL, Hoseo University, KonKuk University, Yeungnam University or from expat events. On Saturday evening, May 10th, we went to the Royal Hawaii Sauna to relax after a long day and the unthinkable happened. While Michael was in the men's side of the spa, he was drowned in a shallow cold pool.
Michael was nearly 6 ft tall and a strong swimmer. He was versed in how to be safe with regards to paying attention to his heart and breathing in sauna/hot tubs. He was in excellent health and had no preconsisting conditions, or conditions discovered in the autopsy that would have caused him to drown on his own.
His mother and I were not notified that there was an emergency with Michael until sometime after an ambulance had arrived. Later in the week we were informed that the ambulance was apparently called at 11:02 pm, but we were not notified until 11:45 pm. Both of us have first responder training and might have been able to save his life.
Everything surrounding Michael's death was a horrible chain of people's unwillingness to act promptly and properly. The poor response was from every level of response Michael received from the patrons at the spa with him, to the staff, to the paramedics who
arrived without oxygen, equipment to monitor vital signs or paddles to restart the heart, to the emergency room staff and finally the police who didn't bother to close the spa and hold everyone inside for questioning.
The autopsy showed he suffered damage to his throat, lungs & back of his mouth from extreme coughing & retching. Even if no one was in the room the sounds should have been echoing to alert staff/patrons that someone was in distress. The doctor who did the autopsy said there was a strong time frame when Mike could have been revived if folks had 1) responded to his distress 2) the staff didn't presume to know Mike's medical condition without training 3) the ambulance had come earlier 4) THE STAFF HAD THOUGHT TO NOTIFY MIKE'S MOTHER!!!!
Please don't let this tragedy go unnoticed. There are so many questions that his mother and those of us who loved him want answered. It is likely that we will never know everything exactly, but we need to push the powers that be to at least try to find justice for Michael.
Please join in one of the silent vigils if you are able. Please forward this e-mail to others in the expats community who may not be on this site. Please forward this e-mail to other expat sites that you know of. Please forward this e-mail to any members of the American military bases who might also be interested in not letting Mike be forgotten.
There is a facebook group started in Michael's memory. The group is called: A Mother is looking for answers about her son.
There are many questions she wants answered, but some of the questions she wants fellow expats to ask with her are as follows: 1. Are there government regulations about safety procedures both for customers and staff in public baths? If yes, does Royal Hawaii follow those regulations?
2. Were resuscitation measures done before the paramedics arrived?
3. Why didn't the staff try to find Mother immediately?
4. How come nobody tried to help Michael when he was coughing & retching?
5. Why didn't anyone come forward with a statement to the police about what happened to Michael?
6. What gives the Sauna the right/medical authority to call in a
false DOA?
Again, please give your time and support.
In Memory of Michael,
This is from an original message posted by Corina Fransen
on expatskorea@yahoogroups.com