Slapped student's blood vessel rupture 'non-traumatic,' says PNP

The rupture of the blood vessel in the brain of the student who was slapped by a teacher in Antipolo City was “non-traumatic in nature,” the medico-legal office of the PNP-Forensic Group (PNP-FG) has said.

At a press briefing, the PNP-FG said that the cause of death of 14-year-old Grade 5 student Francis Jay Gumikib was “intracerebral hemorrhage and edema.”

“With regards to the layman's term of the cause of death, intracerebral, cerebral edema is pamamaga po ng utak, and intracerebral hemorrhage is iyong pagdurugo po sa utak,” said Police Lieutenant Colonel Maria Analiza dela Cruz, the chief of PNP-FG medicolegal office in Rizal.

(With regards to the layman’s terms of the cause of death, intracerebral, cerebral edema is the swelling of the brain and intracerebral hemorrhage is the bleeding in the brain.)

“Ang nag-cause pong intracerebral hemorrhage o iyong pagdurugo sa utak ay iyong pamamaga po sa utak at ang naging cause naman po ng intracerebral hemorrhage is iyong titingnan po natin, kaya sinabi natin na non-traumatic ang nature noong pagputok ng ugat na iyon, is mostly it is a rare condition,” she added.

(The cause of the intracerebral hemorrhage or the bleeding in the brain is the swelling of the brain and the cause of intracerebral hemorrhage is we are looking at, that is why we said that the rupture of that blood vessel is non-traumatic in nature, is mostly it is a rare condition.)

Dela Cruz said it was the most common cause of intracerebral hemorrhage in the age group of the patient. 

“At first is asymptomatic tapos biglang na lang po. Fragile po itong mga ugat na iyon na it can rupture or burst spontaneously. In other cases naman po, meron pong tension on that particular anomaly doon sa utak,” Dela Cruz said.

(At first, the patient is symptomatic and suddenly they will become ill. These blood vessels are fragile and they can rupture spontaneously. In other cases, there is tension on that particular anomaly in the brain.)

In the case of Gumikib, based on the CT scan, Dela Cruz said the hemorrhage “came from the innermost area” of the brain.

According to the Brain Injury Association of the America, non-traumatic brain injuries are caused by internal factors, such as a lack of oxygen, exposure to toxins, and pressure from a tumor.

A traumatic brain injury is defined as an alteration in brain function, or other evidence of brain pathology, caused by an external force like assault.

The police officials refused to answer categorically when asked if the slapping incident had something to do with the death of the student.

PNP-FG director Police Brigadier General Constancio Chinayog Jr. said they could not release their opinion because they had yet to inform Gumikib’s parents.

“In the meantime, we have yet to inform the family of the victim,” Chinayog said.

“Although the autopsy report was already forced to the Antipolo Police Station, we cannot yet release iyong opinion kasi hindi pa namin na-inform iyong parents in due regard to the sensibility ng kanilang parents (the opinion because we have yet to inform the parents in due regard to their sensibility),” he added.

Gumikib died days after allegedly being slapped by a teacher at Peñafrancia Elementary School.

Elena Minggoy, the victim’s mother, said she was not aware that her son was suffering from any illness before his death.

However, she said Gumikib exhibited several symptoms when he was rushed to the hospital including headache, eye pain, vomiting, and earache.

The elementary student also vomited blood in the emergency room and was later diagnosed with a lung disease.

A fact-finding investigation team has been formed to look into the incident, the Department of Education (DepEd) Schools Division Office said. —NB, GMA Integrated News