IPOH: A blood test showed that the late naval cadet officer J. Soosaimanicckam had severe kidney injuries, a Coroner’s Court here heard.

       Lumut Armed Forces Hospital’s Emergency and Trauma Department medical specialist Colonel Dr Nik Mohd Noor Nik Amin said the blood investigation found that the cadet had a high serum creatinine levels of 1600 umol/L.

       He said the blood urea and the uric acid readings were also extremely high.

       “Due to the complication of the kidney failure, he had water in his lungs as well,” he said before Sessions Court judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamad who sat as Coroner.

       When questioned by the deceased’s family counsel Zaid Abd Malek on the cause of the kidney failure as the victim had no such medical history, and was only at the training ground for a week before he died, Dr Nik Mohd said it was due to heat stroke.

       He said due to intense training under the sun for a few days, there is a possibility the cadet suffered from a heat stroke, affecting his kidneys.

       The Coroner’s Court is probing the cause of the cadet’s death during training at the naval base on May 19, 2018.

       Soosaimanicckam was pronounced dead at the Lumut Armed Forces Hospital.

       Previous reports claimed that before his death, the cadet had complained of chest pains and shortness of breath after completing a physical exercise that was part of his daily routine.

       He reported for duty on May 12, a week before his death.

       Lawyer Cheang Lek Choy, who held a watching brief for the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), asked if Dr Nik Mohd had examined the deceased’s joints to see if they were swollen.

       Cheang said if the joints were swollen, it could be gout since the uric acid levels were high, to which the doctor replied he did not.

       He also asked Dr Nik Mohd what other possibilities that could lead to high creatinine readings, to which the doctor said it also could be due to an infection.

       “What about when an assault happens, can the readings of the levels go up?”

       Dr Nik Mohd replied that there was a possibility.

       Dr Nik Mohd also said the abrasions on the deceased are due to military training and not assault, when Cheang asked if the training could cause injuries at specific areas only.

       Zaid, together with Mahajoth Singh, as part of Lawyers for Liberty, are representing Soosaimanicckam’s family. Evangelin Simon Silvaraj prosecuted.

       Another witness, chemist Khairatul Munirah Idarmawi, said the Lumut police station had sent the deceased’s blood samples to carry out checks for alcohol and drugs sampling.

       Khairatul, who is from the Perak Chemistry Department, said orphenadrine was detected in the blood system.

       “This is a type of muscle relaxant used for muscle pains,” she added.

       Earlier, Dr Nik Mohd had testified that when the cadet was rushed to the emergency department, the doctors did not give any painkillers, but only medication for resuscitation purposes.

       Another witness Dr Ngo Siok Yung, an epidemiologist medical officer, said she was requested to check a building in the naval base where the deceased stayed for any infectious diseases 10 days after his death.

       Dr Ngo, who at that time was attached to the Manjung district health office’s infectious disease prevention unit, said she and her team had gone to the ground for checks.

       “We got this request from the base, as a few trainees had been hospitalised, and one who died.

       “We discovered one patient suffering from leptospirosis, but because we were informed late, and many of the trainees had been discharged, thus we can only suspect the outbreak of the disease.

       “However, we cannot be hundred percent sure,” she added.