School's 'negligent' attitude shattered swimmer Riya's dreams

The callousness of school authorities have shattered the dreams of many and Riya Gupta, who has been confined to a wheelchair since 2007, is testimony to it. A swimming champion, who had won laurels for her school in several competitions, suffered a fracture in spinal cord that led her to a medical condition called quadriplegic in which one has no control over the legs, finger muscles and bowl movement.

Gupta a Class 8 student of Remal Public School, in Rohini, had gone to school for the swimming practice when her instructor forced her to enter the pool in the shallow water. As she resisted, the instructor yelled at her and she was made to jump into the pool.

"All I remember is that my head hit the floor and I felt a severe pain around my neck," Riya said, adding that very moment had changed her entire life. She is now working as a ground staffer at IGI airport.

Expert says that the condition is incurable. "I wanted to be an international level sportsperson, but now, I can't even walk," she said. The recent death of a seven-year-old boy at a school campus brings back the horrifying memory in her mind. "Whenever I hear something like this it sends shiver down my spine. It reminds me of the fateful day that had changed my entire life."

Ten years on, the school still maintains that it was an accident. "We conducted an internal inquiry in the matter. It was an accident. The school management had paid the expenses for her treatment at the hospital. We stood with the family throughout," said a senior official at the school.

However, Riya's father Manoj Gupta asserted that it was an act of "sheer negligence". "First of all the school did not provide her a first aid. Had they put a color around her neck immediately, the condition would have deteriorated. If the physical teacher would have be trained enough to know the difference between shallow water and deep water, my daughter would have been leading a normal life," he said.

In 2010, the family had approached the Delhi High court and filed a petition against the school seeking damages of Rs 21 lakh. However, the school had paid only Rs 10 lakh to the family, after two-year long legal battle. No action was taken against the school and the instructor.

Meanwhile, the family had suffered a lot for Riya's treatment. "We sold our house in Rohini and shifted to a rented place. We had to move our two sons to a government school as were not able to pay the high fees of private schools," Gupta said.

For Riya, her own school had deprived her of living a normal student life.

"I have never got a chance live a normal school and college life. I had dropped two years after the incident due to my treatment. Then completed my education through distance school. Now, I'm working as a ground staffer at the IGI airport and pursuing graduation through distant learning simultaneously," Riya said.