Lost sense, sadly (Part 1)

Case 1

Gary Leon Robert, aged 22, an all-rounder university student participated in Adidas' King of The Road Marathon a couple of sundays ago with a few friends. He was separated from the friends during the run and was among the first to complete the race on that fateful morning. However, he went missing after the race ended and a frantic search by family and friends later were fruitless. Sadly, his lifeless body was found the day after in one dark alley in the stadium where the marathon was held, by a police's dog.

Before I go further, let me just clarify that Gary is a younger brother of my colleague hence, all information conveyed here are first-hand.

Gary's death was attributed to severe dehydration and any foul plays have been ruled out so please do not start making any conspiracy theories ok. He didn't have anything on him except for the medal from the race since his personal belongings kept in a safe deposit were uncollected at the end of the race. Yes, accident do happen and yes, you can die from severe dehydration. But any sane person would have ask the same question... were all the necessary cautionary steps have been taken to prevent this?

A number of bystanders and participants from the marathon have since contacted the family and came forward with information, shedding some light to what actually happened. Apparently, after Gary completed the race, he desperately asked for water but was not given any. The family were told by the other participants that were a few water stations along the race track but none at the finishing line except for a Milo van, which you have to queue to get some. He then collapsed and was carried away on a stretcher by some JPA3 volunteers but after awhile, was let to walk away by himself. Whether or not he was given proper medical assessment and any treatment remain unconfirmed. But anybody with even the most basic medical knowledge would know that severe dehydration can lead to neurological impairment like confusion right? Am sure many would have pick this important info up just from watching ER, Grey's Anatomy or House.. right?

Anyway, here comes the saddest part... When Gary failed to turn up at home that afternoon, the family called up the event organisers to ask for any information such as the race number to help them trace his last movements. But sadly, the man who was supposed to be responsible of the whole event wasn't that helpful and asked the family to wait till the next day. He even made a comment to his sister (my colleague) suggesting that Gary has ran away from home. So insensitive eh? Even up to yesterday, the family still haven't receive any condolences from the organising parties eventhough they have the family's contact numbers, although in the newspapers,they said they did. Sad.

So.. why am I highlighting this sad incident here? Because I have so many friends who regularly participate in this kind of sporting events and I just want them to be more aware and take cautionary steps in the future. Gary's family is still in mourning of the sudden lost and they still have so many unanswered questions. But they also want others to learn from this unfortunate experience so that no other families have to go through what they have and still going through..

Was it a case of negligence by the organisers? Only time will tell... if ever.

Gary's friends have set up a website to highlight the incident to the public (and to give their side of the story since so many articles with statements from the organisers have since came out in newspapers) and it can be found here.

My deepest condolences to Gary's family for their lost. May his soul rest in peace.