Stretched to breaking point

A gym has paid a member 186,000 yuan (US$27,500) as compensation after she had her thigh bone broken by a yoga coach.

The 55-year-old gym member, surnamed Hong, has been attending yoga lessons at a gym in the Pudong New Area since 2016. The incident occurred on November 15, 2017, when Hong and the teacher were demonstrating a yoga pose.

Hong was supposed to press her body and knees as close to the floor as possible. Seeing that her knees were not close enough to the floor, the coach stood behind her and pressed her knees until a loud crack was heard. She suffered a fracture to her right side thigh bone and spent six days in hospital.

Hong sued the gym on February 1, 2018. The gym then cleared her 15,000 yuan hospital bill and 13,000 yuan as compensation. On August 8, 2018, Hong was evaluated as having a 10th grade disability — the lowest in the 10-grade system.

She sued the gym again in September.

The court ruled that the gym was responsible for assessing the member’s condition, arranging suitable exercises and assuring her safety.

The coach had failed to give proper instructions, so the gym was held responsible for the incident and ordered to pay Hong a further 173,000 yuan in compensation.