Student Cycles Off A Cliff During Camp

On Saturday the 31st of November 2015 at around 1 pm, Shawronna Sengupta, a student from UWCSEA was involved in a serious cycling accident while on her Grade 8 Chiang Mai camping trip. The class 8ReM , Shawronna’s class, were considered lucky to be the first class to go on the Grade 8 Chiang Mai camp of the academic year but for the testing of the equipment for reports to their friends back in school in Singapore.

During their curriculum week cycling activity, the brakes on one of the bicycles were malfunctioning, causing a disability to slow down to turn. This resulted in Shawronna Sengupta cycling off the edge of a small cliff, much to the shock of her friends behind her. Luckily, the slope wasn’t very steep and Shawronna did not fall into the water at the bottom, however, the bicycle rolled over her, compressing five of the vertebrae on her spine. The ambulance was called and unlucky Shawronna was declared unable to continue with the camp. She was flown back to Singapore after being in the Chiang Mai hospital for a few days. Her classmates were told later on that she wouldn’t be in school until a week after their camp finished and they had arrived back in Singapore. She would also be wearing a back brace for 3-6 months, rendering her unable to do sports, however, it was announced that there would be no permanent damage to her spine.

“It wasn’t only scary for her,” says one of Shawronna’s friends, “it was a traumatic experience for everyone else in the class as well, especially the people who were cycling behind her. This rang true as the people behind her witnessed her cycling off the cliff at top speed. Shawronna fell off, screamed once, shouted that she was not dead, then started talking about how much her back hurt, not knowing how much damage was caused at that point. Everyone spent the rest of the day shaken and careful. Shawronna had sustained multiple other serious injuries over the course of her 13 years. Her bad luck just kept continuing.

The Resilience of 8REM Proved to much for Mei Theng River

On the 7th of October 2015, the 8th grade class 8REM finished their very tough and back aching 2-day rafting expedition with happiness, confidence and of course lots of determination . The 22 children rafted almost 35 kilometers through many obstacles that could have caused very serious injury. However, overcame it with ease. One of the gap year students said “Injuries were avoided because these very talented kids have mindsets that allow them to simultaneously think about themselves and others, ensuring that nobody would get hurt.”

It is believed that 2 people did fall into the cold and treacherous river, but were safely helped out thanks to the strong arms of the raft captains. The 2 students who fell into the river were still motivated to raft because of the positive comments given to them by their raft mates. According to Georgia Hogg (One of the students who fell in) one boy known as Nikos Antipatis said he would have jumped into the water to save her if she did not surface within 30 seconds. This remark proves the pure resilience and warm hearts that the students in 8REM own.

The cold river known as the Mei Theng has flowed through the outskirts of Chiang Mai for a very long time, but nobody knows exactly for how long. The river is home to a very diverse eco-system and even rural hill tribe’s that use it for their everyday needs.

A Quick Turnaround

A quiet conversation quickly turned sour at the Children's Shelter Foundation during UWC’s grade eight Chiang Mai trip over the extent of crude remarks being thrown at a certain individual. The trip was meant to give the students a better understanding of how to effectively take action and help a cause but instead, the opposite happened and the result was pandemonium.

The students were all from class 8REM and all were good friends. The victim in question was Nikos Antipatis the only redhead among the group. “They have no respect for gingers!” he was heard screaming at the other boys in the room as the conversation took a turn for the worst after another, Hugo Howell, said something that really sent Nikos over the edge with rage.

The witnesses at the event saw it escalate from bad to worse. At first just a few jeering remarks were thrown but soon after, a brawl initiated. One of the witnesses, Sam Potter, was lying in the bed next to Hugo when it started. “I don't know what happened, first it was a few slight remarks but then i heard footsteps and the bed next to me became a war zone” he remarked. The two students were seen grappling and punching each other like two bears fighting over a mate. The madness caused the rest of the group who were sleeping to wake up with vigour and back against the wall to avoid the flying punches. Then Paddy, who was the gappie governing the group, intervened and used his strong arms too grab them both by the back of their shirts and spread them apart to avoid further destruction.

Broken Bike, Broken Back

On the 31st of October in Chiang Mai, a grade 8 student named Shawronna was on her school camp when she fell off a rented bike into a river. This accident crushed 5 of her vertebrae in her lower back. The cause of the accident was the brakes failing to work causing her to flip over and into the river.

It was an average day at the Traidhos Three Generation Community in Chiang Mai, Thailand when the 8th grade class ReM went out for their scheduled bike ride as part of their camp. Shawronna was cycling towards the back of the group with Jee Jee behind her. As the group turned a corner, Shawronna's brakes failed and she flipped over. She proceeded to tumble down the small but steep hill into the river. For a short moment there was silence then she yelled ‘I’m fine!’.

Many people rushed to her aid, including other students. The bike guide and Mr Erikson pulled her out of the river with the help of other students. ‘My back, it really hurts.’ Shawronna said as they pulled her out. They were quick to call an ambulance. Students were told to go to the front of the group and stay back. The student’s mentor teacher, Mrs Maynard, went with Shawronna in the ambulance.


Shawronna returned back to Singapore on the 3rd of November but remained in hospital until 7th. She will be wearing a back brace for the next 3 months and is unable to carry books or a bag until then.