After a Chinese medical student died at a sperm bank from a heart attack on his fourth visit to clinic in a week, the family was torn apart. Two years later, Zheng Gang’s loved ones sued Wuhan University and staff over negligence.
Zheng was 23 when he was found dead in a sperm bank in a private booth at the facility. According to the Daily Mail , a nurse became alarmed after two hours elapsed and the Chinese med student had not yet produced a sperm sample for donation.
Inside the booth, they found him unresponsive, and despite efforts to resuscitate him, the man passed away. He was reportedly pronounced dead at the scene. Sources say he must have suffered a heart attack while viewing a number of “ sexy magazines ” to assist in his sperm production.
However, according to information contained in the suit, family members requested an autopsy, but were denied. The next day after the man’s death, his remains were cremated. Therefore, cardiac arrest as a cause of death is merely a theory and not based on biological and toxicology tests.
Zheng enrolled in the university’s program to study medicine back in 2010. According to friends and court documents, the Chinese man was very ambitious and had a desire from the start to take part in the sperm bank program.
In January of 2011, he signed up, and within 10 days of acceptance, the sperm donor made four different trips in one week to the clinic. Friends say his interests were purely altruistic and were done for the “interests of society.” What’s more, he was so enthusiastic about helping and doing his part to assist in fertility research that he tried to recruit family and friends to participate.
The family sued Wuhan’s sperm bank, but a judge struck down the lawsuit, saying the aspiring doctor was old enough to make decisions for himself. However, plaintiffs in the Zheng lawsuit are not convinced, and have placed blame squarely on the university.
The man’s family took the matter to a higher court, and complained that the facility’s staff did not take proper measures to save the man when he suffered an alleged heart attack. Moreover, they contended that he was pressured into donating sperm when he enrolled in the program.
Still, the higher court upheld the previous decision, but the school compensated the man’s widow with a reduced tuition fees and offered her job assistance as settlement.
[Image via: China Daily/Xinhau ]