9-year-old Rajasthan girl dies after suspected multiple heart attacks
What's the story
A nine-year-old girl, identified as Prachi Kumawat, died of a suspected cardiac arrest at her school in Sikar's Danta town, Rajasthan, on Tuesday. The incident happened around 11:00am during lunch break at Adarsh Vidya Mandir School. According to principal Nandkishore Tiwari, the girl collapsed while opening her lunch box and fell unconscious. School staff immediately took Prachi to the Dantaramgarh Community Health Center (CHC) for emergency medical attention.
Emergency response
Girl brought to hospital for emergency medical attention
However, while being transferred to the ambulance, she suffered another heart attack and died. Dr. Subhash Verma, who attended to her at the center, said she was "unconscious and gasping" with no pulse or blood pressure. "There was no BP pulse and her heart was not beating. We started CPR, gave her oxygen and emergency drugs, along with injection and drip," he told NDTV.
Fatal transfer
Another heart attack during transfer to SK hospital
"We did our best to revive her, but then realizing her condition was not getting better, we called an ambulance and referred her to a hospital in Sikar. If there was a delay in bringing a patient, people should immediately give CPR. It is a rare case to have this in children." "Sometimes, there could be a congenital heart disease or disturbance in electrical impulse, and parents may not have noticed them. But it should be investigated," Dr. Verma said.
Hospital
'She appeared to be suffering from cardiac arrest'
Dr. RK Jangid, the doctor in charge at Dantaramgarh CHC, also said it appeared to be a heart attack but couldn't be confirmed without a post-mortem examination. "You cannot establish definitively that she died of a heart attack without a post-mortem. She definitely appeared to be suffering from a cardiac arrest. It's possible that she had a congenital heart disease that was never discovered and could have been aggravated all of a sudden due to some other condition," he said.
Community mourning
Family, school in shock
Principal Tiwari said it is not uncommon for children to faint at school, but such incidents are rare. The girl had been absent from school for a few days due to a slight cold but seemed healthy when she returned on Monday, participating in morning prayers and assembly activities. The family refused to carry out an autopsy and took her body home for the last rites.