The 17-year-old Guoyu teenager fainted in the stadium and died unfortunately. Experts analyzed that sudden cardiac death is likely.
On June 30th, Zhang Zhijie, an athlete of the China Youth Badminton Team, suddenly fainted on the field when he participated in the final match of the group match of the Asian Youth Badminton Championship in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and died after being rescued. The Asian Badminton Federation, China Badminton Association and other parties issued announcements expressing deep condolences over the unfortunate death of Zhang Zhijie.
The Asian Badminton Federation announced on July 1st that Zhang Zhijie fainted in a match in the evening and died at 23: 20 local time on June 30th after being taken to hospital.
"The Asian Badminton Federation, the Indonesian Badminton Association and the Organizing Committee are deeply saddened by this and express their deepest condolences to Zhang Zhijie’s parents, family members and the Chinese Badminton Association." The announcement said, "The world badminton has lost a talented player."
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press conference on July 1st that we also heard about this unfortunate news. After learning of this incident, the Consulate General of China in Surabaya immediately contacted and coordinated the Indonesian side for full rescue, and sent personnel to the incident site to carry out work. We deeply regret and mourn the unfortunate death of the client and express our condolences to his family. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to guide the Consulate General in Surabaya and do the follow-up work within the scope of its duties.
The China Badminton Association announced that it will continue to keep in touch with the Asian Badminton Federation, the Asian Youth Badminton Championship Organizing Committee and all parties in Indonesia, and new information will be announced to the public in time.
"We are deeply saddened by Zhang Zhijie’s sudden illness and unfortunate death in the international arena. We express our sincere gratitude to all sectors of society for their concern and help to Zhang Zhijie. We will do our utmost to help Zhang Zhijie’s family and do a good job in the aftermath." The Chinese Badminton Association wrote in the announcement.
It is understood that Zhang Zhijie’s family and the relevant personnel of Zhejiang Badminton Team will rush to Indonesia as soon as possible to deal with the aftermath.
Zhang Zhijie was born in Jiaxing on January 30th, 2007. He started to learn badminton from a kindergarten class and trained with Li Wei, the coach of Fucheng Primary School. Later, he was sent to Jiaxing Junior Sports School because of his excellent performance, and was sent to Zhejiang Team by Jiaxing Junior Sports School in the third grade. He won the men’s singles champion and men’s team champion in Group B of the National Youth Badminton Championship in 2023 and the men’s team champion in Group B of the National Youth Badminton Championship in 2024.
Treatment details
I have no spontaneous breathing and pulse when I arrive at the hospital.
China Badminton Association is still trying to transfer to another hospital for rescue.
Indonesian Badminton Association calls on the International Badminton Federation to amend the rules.
On July 1st, Indonesian Badminton Association and local hospital (Sardjito) held a press conference to explain the sudden death of China badminton star Zhang Zhijie.
The contestants said that they were given "timely treatment"
According to the Indonesian Badminton Association, Zhang Zhijie had no pulse and spontaneous breathing when he arrived at the hospital. The hospital then gave him cardiac compression resuscitation for three hours. By 20: 50, the hospital thought that Zhang Zhijie was dead. The Chinese Badminton Association still tried to transfer to another hospital and sent him to another hospital for cardiac resuscitation for 1.5 hours. He was declared dead at 23: 20. At present, Zhang Zhijie’s body is still in Sardjito Hospital, waiting for his parents and family to come from China.
Although the competitors claimed in the post-match announcement that they had given "timely treatment", the unprofessional operation of the medical team of the competition may also be one of the reasons for the tragedy.
Has the first aid been delayed?
According to the official announcement, "Zhang Zhijie was taken to the ambulance and taken to the hospital in less than 2 minutes", but according to the video of the game, when Zhang Zhijie fell to the ground, a coach of the China team tried to check it for the first time, but was stopped by the referee. The coach rushed to greet the medical team, and then the medical team came in to treat him. By this time, he had fallen to the ground for about half a minute. Nearly half a minute passed before the stretcher entered the field. In addition, the medical team did not treat Zhang Zhijie with cardiopulmonary resuscitation and did not use AED (automated external defibrillator).
At present, it is not clear what measures were taken by the local medical team to treat Zhang Zhijie in the ambulance, and the announcement did not indicate how long it took to reach the hospital. Judging from the whole operation of the medical team, they probably missed the "golden four minutes" of treatment.
At the same time, the Indonesian Badminton Association submitted a written application to the International Badminton Federation, requesting the International Badminton Federation to revise the rules that medical teams are not allowed to enter the stadium without the permission of the referee, so that athletes can be treated at the first time.
In addition, a doctor in a domestic 3A hospital said that Zhang Zhijie fell to the ground and convulsed without contact, and then died unexpectedly after being sent to the hospital, which basically met the situation of sudden death due to exercise, but from the live video, the rescue response was somewhat slow. "The key to sudden sports death is the first rescue. After judging that the player is unconscious, the on-site medical staff should do cardiopulmonary resuscitation according to the first aid process and use AED at the first time."
Cases of emergency medical situations in sports venues have occurred many times in the past. The speed and professionalism of on-site treatment are often the difference between life and death.
In the 2021 European Football Cup, Danish midfielder Eriksson fell to the ground without confrontation, teammate Delaney waved to the sidelines at the first time, and Finnish player Pohjanpalo also signaled the referee to suspend the game. The referee immediately signaled the team doctor to enter. After judging that Eriksson may be in cardiac arrest, Danish team captain Kiel immediately broke Eriksson’s mouth according to the first aid knowledge and performed chest compressions for Eriksson. Then the team doctor quickly took over the first aid work such as chest compressions, airway opening, artificial respiration and AED.
According to estimates, only 8 seconds after Eriksson’s emergency, the team doctor arrived at the scene, 37 seconds later, the medical staff with first-aid equipment rushed into the venue, 52 seconds later, AED equipment arrived, and the on-site rescue lasted until 8 minutes and 08 seconds. The stretcher dedicated for ambulances entered the scene and transferred Eriksson to the hospital.
In the end, after a series of treatments at the scene, in the ambulance and after being sent to the hospital, Eriksson not only saved his life, but also returned to the stadium.
Etiological analysis
What caused Zhang Zhijie’s death?
Cardiologist: The symptoms after falling to the ground are very similar to sudden cardiac death.
Wang Lihong, chief physician of Cardiovascular Department of Zhejiang People’s Hospital, said on July 1st that according to the live video, Zhang Zhijie’s condition was more like sudden cardiac death. "The sudden death of this teenager is really regrettable. Because of his specific physical condition and whether he has a basic disease, we don’t know, and we can’t rashly guess the cause of sudden cardiac death. According to our previous clinical practice, generally speaking, sudden death occurs during strenuous exercise such as playing badminton and running marathon. The very common and important inducement is hypokalemia. "
Dr. Wang Lihong explained that there will be a lot of sweating during strenuous exercise. With the discharge of sweat, a lot of electrolytes will be lost, leading to low potassium and magnesium, which will lead to unstable cardiac electrical activity. At this time, the human sympathetic nerve is in an extremely excited state, which is easy to lead to myocardial ischemia and hypoxia, and various factors are superimposed, and accidents may occur.
Lu Xiao, deputy director of the Department of Emergency Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, posted on social media that he felt extremely distressed after watching the video of (Zhang Zhijie) falling to the ground. As an emergency doctor, the idea of seeing an athlete fall to the ground: such a young athlete died suddenly and had obvious convulsions before sudden death. From my point of view, the patient may have a high possibility of malignant arrhythmia.
Chief physician Tang Yimin, deputy director of Cardiovascular Department of Zhejiang Hospital, said that Zhang Zhijie’s symptoms after falling to the ground should be cardiogenic cerebral ischemia syndrome. The most prominent manifestation is that the blood supply to the brain is seriously insufficient due to the sharp drop of blood supply to the heart. In light cases, he only has dizziness and disturbance of consciousness, and in severe cases, he completely loses consciousness, often accompanied by convulsions, incontinence, pallor, and then cyanosis. Zhang Zhijie’s convulsion after falling to the ground is probably caused by sudden cardiac arrest and cerebral ischemia and hypoxia.
Class 3 sports have a high risk of sudden death.
Many people in life have the habit of exercising, and similar cases of sudden death in sports also occur from time to time. An Epidemiological Survey of Sports-related Sudden Death in Guangdong Province published in the Journal of Forensic Medicine in April, 2022. By collecting 374 sports-related sudden death cases in Guangdong Province in the past 15 years (2007-2021), it was found that the top three sports were basketball (34.5%), running (19.5%) and badminton.
The study pointed out that most cases (77% people) had almost no premonitory symptoms before sudden sports death. The premonitory symptoms recorded in some cases include: limb twitching, foaming at the mouth, dyspnea, loud wheezing or making strange noises.
According to the research, several important conclusions about sudden death in sports are summarized:
1. High-intensity and antagonistic exercise is more likely to cause sudden sports death.
According to the statistics of this study, it is found that sudden sports death occurs with the most concentrated high-intensity exercise and strong antagonism. For example, basketball, running, table tennis, badminton, football and tennis are all high-intensity and antagonistic sports.
2.39-59 years old is the age group with the most sudden sports death.
According to the statistics of this study, there are far more cases of sudden death in sports in men than in women. Among them, men aged 39-59 are the age group with the most sudden sports death. Researchers believe that the physical function of this age group is gradually declining, and the risk of potential diseases is increasing, which is prone to sudden death caused by coronary heart disease and other reasons. At the same time, due to the pressure of work and life, the exercise time is mainly concentrated after work, and the body is already in a state of fatigue, and the exercise lacks regularity, which is easy to increase the risk of sudden death.
3. Young people’s sudden death due to exercise is mainly due to improper exercise intensity.
0-19 years old and 19-39 years old are also the age groups with more cases of sudden death from sports. The researchers pointed out that young people in this age group are mainly competitive, intense and antagonistic, and lack necessary protective measures and inappropriate exercise intensity, which increases the risk of sudden death.
4. Sudden death often occurs during exercise and within 1 hour after exercise.
It is found that most cases of sudden death during exercise or within one hour after exercise. In this study, 280 cases of sudden sports death occurred during exercise (accounting for 74.87%), and 75 cases of sudden sports death occurred within one hour after exercise (accounting for 20.05%), accounting for 94.92% of the total cases.
Keep these points in mind to prevent sudden death during sports.
We ordinary people should also be prepared to prevent sudden death during exercise, and remember these points.
First, do a good job of physical assessment and preparation before exercise
1. No matter how old you are, no matter what kind of exercise, you should make a comprehensive assessment of your body before exercise. For example, people with heart and blood vessel-related diseases had better have a heart-related examination before regular exercise or follow the professional advice of doctors.
2. For ordinary people, it is necessary to know their physical condition before exercise, and it is best to check whether there are potential cardiovascular diseases. In addition, you should also pay attention to whether you have a cold, stay up late, drink alcohol, fatigue, etc. recently, whether you have physical discomfort, etc. In short, don’t rush to high-intensity, high-confrontation sports.
3. People who don’t exercise for a long time should not suddenly do a lot of exercise or do high-intensity exercise. Exercise should be done according to your ability, step by step, and warm up well. At the same time, don’t exercise in hot and extremely cold weather.
Second, pay attention to physical condition and supplement during exercise
1. Observe your heart rate in time during exercise, observe your feelings, and determine whether the amount of exercise is appropriate through your own reaction. For people engaged in high-intensity and high-confrontation sports, it is best to wear a heart rate watch or a heart rate belt to monitor the heart rate status in time.
2. Pay special attention not to dehydrate during exercise. Dehydration and electrolyte loss during exercise are very dangerous, so it is necessary to make up enough water and electrolyte in time, especially in summer or when you sweat a lot.
3. In the event of physical discomfort, heatstroke, difficulty breathing, etc. during exercise, it is necessary to stop and reduce the intensity of exercise in time.
Third, do a good job of physical recovery after exercise.
1. Don’t stop or sit immediately after a lot of strenuous exercise. The body should be given a recovery time to gradually relax from the intense exercise state.
2. Don’t gulp water, drink a lot of cold drinks or take a cold shower after exercise. This kind of cold stimulation will affect the heart and even induce sudden death during exercise.
It’s best to do a cold exercise after exercise. A person’s sudden stop after strenuous exercise is equivalent to "sudden braking", and cold exercise can slow down the rapid heartbeat to a safe level. Jogging, brisk walking, stretching and relaxing after moderate and high-intensity exercise can maintain and promote blood return.
Comprehensive Xinhua News Agency, Jimu News, Health Times, etc.
@ 京京京京京京: The sad news is hard to accept. Is this a talented person?
@ 中中中中: It seems that there is indeed a rule that team doctors can’t enter the stadium without permission, but this still can’t be the reason for the tragedy. People’s lives are very heavy. It is unforgivable that the first choice for rescue is to carry them away on a stretcher instead of cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the spot.
@ Brother Feng: As a doctor, I feel very sad. If everyone at the scene knows about CPR /AED, it may be different.
@ I love my family: I look forward to strengthening the medical security of the event and avoiding similar tragedies from happening again!
Source: Huashang. com-Huashang Daily