Malaysian student dies after collapsing during rugby training at school

A Form Two male student died after collapsing during a rugby training session at a secondary school in Telok Mas, Malaysia’s Melaka state.

The 14-year-old is believed to have lost consciousness at about 6pm on Wednesday shortly after a break while listening to a briefing by his coach.

The victim’s granduncle, Yahya Endut, 64, said he rushed from Alor Gajah after receiving news of the incident involving the teenager, whom he had raised since childhood.

“I was informed that the victim had only been training for about 15 minutes before he stopped to rest,” Yahya said on Wednesday night.

“He was sitting and listening to the coach’s briefing before suddenly experiencing breathing difficulties and losing consciousness,” he said.

Yahya said the victim had never suffered from any serious illness and had not complained of any problems at school or at the hostel.

“We never expected something like this would happen,” he added.

Meanwhile, Melaka education, higher education and religious affairs committee chairman Rahmad Mariman said the student collapsed during a post-training briefing before being pronounced dead.

Acting Melaka Tengah OCPD Superintendent Halim Abas said police had been notified of the incident and would issue a statement after obtaining further details.

Malaysia is one of Asia’s bigger markets for rugby, with about 38,000 registered players as of 2018, and the sport has grown in popularity over the past few years, driven by sustained investment in school and youth programmes and elite boarding-school rugby competitions.

Organisers have increasingly positioned rugby as a pathway to national representation, helping attract a growing number of young players.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg

This story was first published by The Star