An unpaid volunteer involved in the death of a 15-year-old who fell from a rope course at the Yishun SAFRA Adventure Sports Centre was sentenced to six months' jail on Jan. 15, 2024.
The 23-year-old facilitator, Muhammad Nurul Hakim Mohamed Din, had failed to conduct a physical check on the harness used by the deceased Jethro Puah Xin Yang.
This resulted in the boy's leg loops coming undone after he fell from the high-element course, causing the harness to move upwards and suffocate him.
Hakim pleaded guilty to the charge of causing grievous hurt to Puah through a rash act, which endangered the boy's life.
Only visually checked the harness
According to The Straits Times, Puah and his schoolmates from Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) visited the sports centre on Feb. 3, 2021 to participate in outdoor activities for team bonding.
Hakim, who was a volunteer instructor for the outdoor adventure training company Camelot, briefed the students on how to don their helmets and harnesses, and how they should react if they fell off the course.
That day marked the first time Hakim worked as a dispatcher.
This role required him to conduct final checks on participants to ensure that their helmets and harnesses were properly buckled and adjusted.
Disregarding protocol which required him to physically check the equipment, Hakin merely checked Puah's harness visually.
He had done the same for the three other students before the boy.
Before going onto the course, a nervous Puah confessed to Hakin that he was scared of heights, reported ST.
The volunteer encouraged Puah by telling him that if his classmates could do it, so could he.
Puah completed the first obstacle course without issue.
Slipped on the 2nd obstacle course
While tackling the second obstacle course — a postman walk that required participants to grip a rope while walking sideways on a metal cable — Puah slipped.
Struggling and failing to get back up, Puah hung suspended by his harness.
The instructor noted that his leg loops had come loose and ridden up from his thighs to his waist.
When both of his leg loops came unbuckled, Puah hung from the shoulder straps of his harness by his armpits.
His head was roughly level with the foot cable.
Hakim and another instructor wrapped their personal safety lines around Puah's chest and under his armpits to stop him from falling further.
A teacher at ground level told Puah to stop struggling, to which he replied that he was suffocating, reported CNA.
The prosecution said a participant who had worn the harness properly would have been able to climb back onto the obstacle more easily as the person would have been in a higher position.
Under instructions to bring Puah to a tower, Hakim, stationed at the tower, told Puah to hold onto his forearm.
Hakim observed that the boy was panicking and gasping for air, his face pale and fingers blue.
He tried to heave the boy up with the help of the other facilitators but failed, said CNA.
Puah lost consciousness about eight minutes after his fall.
While trying to belay the student to the ground with a rescue bag, the instructors were hindered as the boy was slipping off his harness.
In the end, another instructor had to secure Puah to himself and lower the both of them down.
By that point, it had been more than 30 minutes since Puah's fall.
He had ceased breathing and had no pulse.
After instructors performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Puah was conveyed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
Scans revealed that he sustained severe brain injury from the lack of oxygen and a fracture of the anterior neck bone supporting the airway.
Despite medical intervention, Puah developed severe heart failure, liver injury and significant muscle injuries, reported CNA.
He died from multiorgan failure caused by suffocation at about 4:41am the next day.
"Poor split-second judgement"
The defence lawyer argued that Hakim exercised a poor split-second judgment call in the midst of a dynamic exercise, as opposed to an offender who took a deliberate and cavalier approach to risk, said CNA.
He sought not more than four to six months’ jail for his client.
He stated that while Hakin "was aware that not doing a physical check would possibly entail risk of endangering the deceased’s life", he was "not alive to the exact or obvious danger".
"It was something he never imagined could have happened, and certainly something he never wished for or wanted. He is deeply remorseful knowing that his actions have led to the loss of a young life.
Not a day goes by without him thinking about the incident, what he or his other instructors could have done differently, and whether the life of the deceased could have been spared."
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