DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 31 Jan) – A 12-year-old volleyball player competing in the ongoing Davao Regional Athletic Association (DAVRAA) died at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday due to “community-acquired pneumonia,” the Department of Education (DepEd) in Region 11 said.
Jenielito Atillo, DepEd-11 spokesman, told TV Patrol Southern Mindanao 6 p.m. Thursday that the final diagnosis ruled that the cause of death of Hadia P. Eronico, of Mogbongcogon in the municipality of Banay-Banay in Davao Oriental, was pneumonia and not dengue as earlier reported.
Eronico was a member of the volleyball girls team of Davao Oriental participating in the weeklong DAVRAA Meet 2019, which opened on January 27 at the Davao City-University of the Philippines Sports Complex and will culminate on February 2.
Based on a report released by the Davao City Police Office (DCPO), coach Joezel Mae Jacobe Duro, 23, said Eronico refused to eat breakfast and stayed in her bed at their billeting quarter at the Imelda Elementary School in Mintal, this city on January 30, Day 3 of DAVRAA.
But when the coach noticed the victim was coughing up blood, she brought the student athlete to the clinic where she was attended to by Davao Oriental delegation nurse Stephen Castres.
Eronico was immediately rushed to Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) at 8:15 a.m.
“We are really saddened by this situation,” Atillo said, adding that the DepEd 11 is also trying to gather more information to find out “underlying reasons or circumstance leading to this very sad situation.”
He said they do not want to point fingers who should be held accountable for the incident as they are still looking into the incident.
“We want some sort of due process to know the circumstances surrounding the incident,” he said.
Atillo assured parents of student athletes of their safety and that they are well taken care of by Davao City Central 911 responders, doctors and nurses from the City Health Office, and DepEd 11 personnel deployed in all billeting areas and venue of the sports events.
He also told the coaches to immediately inform the doctors if there are students suffering from ailments.
Atillo said the authorities made sure that all billeting areas of the students are safe from dengue even before the opening of DAVRAA.
“Even those athletes, if you are suffering from illness, it’s important to inform the authorities so that they can take immediate action,” he said. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)