Chinese student left paralyzed after excessive drinking

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In an extreme case of drinking gone wrong, a 17-year-old student in central China's Henan Province was left paralyzed after a night of drinking with his classmates in 2016.

The student, surnamed Zhang, then only 15 years old, was found in a coma the next morning, after drinking baijiu, a Chinese liquor. He was later diagnosed with myelitis and has been paralyzed since.

After spending more than 400,000 yuan (58,000 U.S. dollars) on their son's treatment, Zhang's parents took legal action. In May 2018, they sued the school, the store which sold him the alcohol and the six students who drank with him.

The parents won their case, with the court ruling in their favor. The school was held responsible for not educating their students under the age of 18 and ordered to pay 800,000 yuan (116,000 U.S. dollars). The store was ordered to pay 67,000 yuan (9,700 U.S. dollars) for selling alcohol to underage students, and Zhang's drinking friends were ordered to pay 200,000 yuan (29,000 U.S. dollars).

The case was recently brought up, after the parents asked the court to enforce its ruling. The six students and the store owner have paid their required amounts.

Drinking-related tragedies among students have appeared in the country in recent years. /VCG Photo

Drinking-related tragedies among students have been an issue in recent years. In 2015, a 17-year-old university student died after losing consciousness while drinking at a party. In 2017, a student from Guangdong Province died while taking part in a drinking competition.

The issue emerging on campus has prompted some schools to take action. Last month, a school from north China's Shanxi Province announced a controversial decision to ban students from drinking alcohol under any circumstances while studying at the school.

In a 2018 report released by the World Health Organization, over three million died due to harmful use of alcohol in 2016. Total alcohol per capita consumption in China has risen from 4.1 liters in 2005 to 7.2 liters in 2016, while the world's per capita consumption in 2016 is 6.4 liters.