Aurangabad: Youth collapses during 1.6km run for Agniveer selection, dies in hospital

AURANGABAD: A 20-year-old youth, who along with his brother had come to the city to participate in the ongoing Agniveer recruitment, fell unconscious during the last few metres of the 1,600m run and died hours later at a hospital. Medical experts said the youth, Karan Pawar, died of heart failure.
Karan and his brother Sagar, of Vitthalwadi Sirjapur in Kannad tehsil of Aurangabad district, participated in the four-lap 1,600m run, held as part of the recruitment, around 2am at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University’s ground. The athletic events are being held in the evening and later at night as there have been complaints in the past of aspirants suffering from sunstroke and other ailments during the day.
“Karan fell unconscious and collapsed in the final lap of the run, just a couple of metres from the finish line,” Sagar said.
On learning of Karan’s death, his relatives and friends rushed in large numbers to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here, forcing the police to enforce tight security.
Karan’s relatives said he and Sagar had been practising for the Army recruitment for the past 3-4 years. They said that Karan’s mother had passed away about six months back. His elderly father has been unwell since long.
At the GMCH, Karan was shifted from the OPD to the medicine ward and given cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). “The youth barely had any pulse when he reached the hospital. We gave him CPR, which partly revived him. We did a CT scan too, but nothing was found. This was followed by the troponin test, which turned positive,” a doctor said.
Medical experts said the troponin test turning positive indicates that the patient has suffered heart failure. The test measures the levels of troponin proteins in the blood, which are released when the heart muscle gets damaged.
GMCH officials said Karan was shifted to the ICU around 4am and put on life support. He was officially declared dead at 8.30am. Police have registered a case of accidental death and initiated a probe.