Indian lady died after barbell crushed her neck

Over the weekend, a client shared with me that a 17-year old Indian powerlifter had died after a barbell crushed her neck. The accident happened when the lady was squatting 270kg and slipped on a mat. I do genuinely feel that the incident is very unfortunately and should not have happened.

Just two years ago, Justyn Vicky, a person trainer from Bali died after his neck was crushed by a barbell. He was squatting 210kg and fell backwards after struggling to ascend from his squat. He was 33-year old.

Earlier this month, we also blogged about the case of Joanna Kowalczyk. Her case was a bit different as she passed away because of a stroke that occured after receiving chiropractic adjustments from a chiropractor. However, her first injury, which the coroner believed to be her first stroke, was from weight lifting with a personal trainer.

Is powerlifting a dangerous sport?

In my honest opinion, all sports come with an inherent risk of injury. Some injuries are more traumatic and fatal, such as those I shared above. Others, such as repetitive strain injuries, are more insidious and usually not fatal.

As with all activities in life, we should be very mindful of the inherent risks and also what could be done to mitigate some of these risks. To a large extent, I do subscribe that you cannot never be too safe.

Sometimes, however, freak accidents do occur.

What happened to Yashtika Acharya?

Yashtika Acharya was not an amateur athlete. She was a Junior National Games weightlifter. In a video circulating online, she lost her footing and her left ankle twisted into inversion before she fell. When she fell, the barbell crushed her neck and led to her demise.

It is truly unfortunate because she had a spotter. The rack she was using also had safety arms. There were also many people around but it happened too fast for anyone to be able to help.

The issue, from what I understood, was that she had to stand on gym mats in other to reach the barbell. It doesn’t make sense to be because squat racks usually comes with adjusting hooks that allow you to adjust the height of the barbell. If the gap between each hook is too wide (i.e., she can’t reach), then the better solution is to invest in a rack with more appropriate hook designs.

Could the safety bars save her life?

Retrospectively, if used correctly, the safety bars should have stopped the barbell from falling directly on her. When squatting, it is best to stand within the area where the safety arms could catch a falling barbell.

I agree that fatal lifting accidents are rare. However, we can never be too careful. Optimism bias, aka not me not now, is definitely not a good approach to lifting safely.

Wei Cong: Powerlifting Coach and Physiotherapist

It is important to train safely. More importantly, we need to know the resources available to us to help us lift safely. If you are new to powerlifting or you find yourself getting into situations that may be unsafe, it is a good idea to check in with a professional.

The first person I’ll recommend checking out is Wei Cong. Wei Cong is both a physiotherapist as well as a powerlifting coach. He is also the founder of Enso Powerlifting Club.

I worked with Wei Cong previously when we were still running Pom Pi Pi CrossFit. He ran our powerlifting classes and was meticulous in his work. He is also very technique-driven and not one of those go hard or go home trainer.

Even though he works a lot with competitive athletes, he was excellent at helping beginners lift for their very first time. The gym members found him approachable. Not only did their strength improve, so did their confidence towards lifting.

If you need help with powerlifting, I 100% recommend checking Wei Cong out.

Pit Performance

If you prefer a physical powerlifting gym that you can go to, Pit Performance at Orchard may be suitable to you. I had spoken to Irving previously and he was a very genuine and eager to help person.

I also have had clients who had train with Irvin before. They spoke highly of him and his coaching. When working with people with chronic pain/injury, Irving was able to provide meaningful advice for them. For this reason, I believe Irving does prioritise safety for his members. And that you would be in good hands training with him.