Print

Mail

wiki links

Body of Olympic taekwondo coach recovered from sea

The search for former Taiwanese Olympic taekwondo coach Kao Te-tsun (高德村) ended as feared yesterday morning when his body was discovered almost 2km from where he disappeared in the ocean off Hsiulin Township (秀林) in Hualien County on Wednesday while trying to save his daughter.

Kao had taken his wife, eight-year-old daughter Kao Chia-hua (高佳華) and six of his taekwondo students to the beach to go running as part of their training. While playing with two students away from her parents, Kao Chia-hua slipped and fell into the ocean and was sucked out into the powerful waves. After hearing the two other students' calls for help, Kao leapt into the water to save his daughter but was taken by the current and never returned.

Helicopter-borne divers from the National Airborne Service Corps rescued Kao Chia-hua after approximately one hour in the ocean. She was barely conscious and paddling weakly when she was pulled from the water, but had regained consciousness by the time she arrived at Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital. She was admitted and treated for ingesting sea water, hypothermia and inflammation of the lungs, but is expected to recover without complications.

Rescue crews searched for Kao through the night with boats and helicopters, but were hampered by poor weather conditions.

Kao's family held out hope that the 43-year-old athlete could have survived until his body was discovered yesterday morning. Rescuers speculated he may have struck his head on the shallow reef.

Kao coached many outstanding taekwondo athletes, most notably Olympic gold medalist Luo Yue-ying (羅月英).

He was the chairman of the Hualien County Taekwondo Council (花連跆拳道委員會), on which he served for more than 10 years, and he helped establish the Shengwei Taekwondo Center (勝威跆拳道館) in Hualien after retiring from the military.
This story has been viewed 1836 times.