Following the death of a participant at the ABSA Marathon, an ABSA Bank employee James Chisanga, many questions have been raised as to the veracity and thoroughness of how the 2024 #AbsaMarathon was organised.
Accusations that the bank and their organising committee had put more efforts to get more participants neglecting the need to put adequate health measures have been raised.
A Medical Doctor who was among the health care facilitators has revealed to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that the organizers should have taken more precautions to put in place a robust safety and health system to prevent unfortunate incidences such as the passing away of a participant.
The doctor whose identity has been withheld due to confidentiality considerations and the fact that they were part of the health care system told ZBT that some of the medical arrangements were only approved and given a go ahead with barely a week to the date of the marathon, giving little time to put in place adequate provisions.
The doc further revealed that most of the runners appeared not to be fit for the sporting event as the medical set up they put up was overwhelmed with participants seeking medical interventions.
“In upcoming events…, people should consider getting a proper health screen, honestly I met one woman who ran the 21 kilometer and she was quite a large woman and I asked her how much training were you doing a week? She said about 10-15 kilometers and that is not enough for a 21 Kilometer race, she must have put a huge amount of stress on her body’, the doctor told ZBT.
“Some people were being moved by peer pressure, they shouldn’t be doing the distances that they did,” he said. When asked about the ambulance services, the medical source said other teams took care of that and that he was not part of that team.
ZBT has received some concerns on the ambulance services that were available and the timelines it took for them to attend to participants. So far, no medical facility has owned up as those contacted by ZBT who were service providers for have all denied attending to the late James Chisanga and others who needed urgent ambulance emergency services.
In sharing more details on the ABSA incident, the medical source added that screening must be thorough because some of the participants may have underlining ailments.
“Lusaka and Zambia needs more events like the ABSA Marathon and several others but if the people are not doing proper training and [if organisers are not doing] proper screening we will have more unfortunate events happening,” he added.
“If someone came to me [as a trained medical doctor] and said that they are running five kilometers a week but then they will ran 21 Kilometers on Saturday, I will tell them they are an idiot, because there are high chances of getting tendonitis or high blood pressure,” he remarked.
The death of a participant in the ABSA marathon needs a sober reflection if such unfortunate future incidents are to be avoided. Even sports events in schools always have trained first aiders who are usually red cross to ensure that any health and safety emergencies are timely attended.
