Students at exclusive Chinese international school suffer eye injuries after UV light medical class goes wrong
Unknown number of Year 2 students at Wellington College International Shanghai went to hospital with 'temporary cornea abrasions' on October 5, but fully recovered, says school
Primary students at a Shanghai international school partnered with Britain’s exclusive Wellington College were taken to hospital with eye injuries after a medical demonstration using ultraviolet lights went wrong, mainland media reports.
An unknown number of Year 2 students and their teachers at the private Wellington College International Shanghai were taken to Shanghai Children Medical Centre – a children’s hospital linked to Shanghai Jiao Tong University – and found to have suffered “temporary cornea abrasions”, Xin Min Evening News reported on Thursday.
However, the children and teachers at the school, where annual day-to-day Year 1 and 2 tuition fees total 234,000 yuan (HK$316,000), had already recovered after treatment for their injuries immediately after the incident on October 5, the school said in an official statement on Wednesday evening after it was contacted by reporters.
It said the affected students and teachers had reported feeling discomfort in their eyes after the use of an “unsuitable type” of UV light during the demonstration during the lesson, which was to examine the germs found on the children’s hands.
Obviously something went wrong and I would like to express my apologies ... … I never want such an incident to occur again at Wellington
The school’s statement came after an email – reportedly sent out to parents soon after the accident by the principal, David Cook – was widely circulated on mainland social media.