An 81-year-old woman, hoping to stay active, is now bedridden after she fell and fractured her spine during a fitness class warm-up. Her son, who is only identified as L, believes the exercise was too risky for seniors. He is now seeking accountability from the fitness center and wants to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.
A Fall During a Trial Class
On September 17, L’s mother and her 91-year-old husband attended a trial class for the “Legends” fitness program, which is run by Rx Performance. According to its website, the program is “the first fitness program in Singapore for the elderly led by physiotherapists” and is for people aged 50 to 87. It costs S$35 for a trial.
L said that after arriving, his parents filled out a health form and were cleared to join in. He claimed the participants were then told to do an exercise called “toy soldiers,” which involves standing on one leg and kicking the other while reaching for their toes. L called this exercise “inherently unsafe” for seniors.
According to L, the next exercise was “side steps with a hop.” It was during this second exercise that his mother fell. L claimed, “The physio walked over, then walked away to continue the class, leaving my mother sprawled on the floor…with me beside her.” He said the class continued while he called for an ambulance.
L’s mother was taken to Singapore General Hospital, where an MRI showed she had a spinal fracture. She later had another fall at home because of the medication she was on. She went back to the hospital, where a new MRI showed the original fracture was pressing on her spinal cord. L said his mother now has a lot of pain and is bedridden, and he is concerned she “might never regain full mobility.”
L wrote to the company, Thrive Healthcare, which he says owns Rx Performance. He wanted them to explain why “skipping” was part of a senior’s program. Thrive Healthcare wrote back a week later, saying their internal review found that the exercise was a “sidewalk drill” and that “at no time was skipping demonstrated or instructed in the session.“ They also said they would review their safety rules and waived the trial fees for his parents “as a gesture of goodwill.”
But L wasn’t satisfied. He insisted that the instructor had “explicitly” told people to “hop sideways,” and he asked if the company would pay for his mother’s hospital bills. According to L, he hasn’t received a reply.
L, who has a sports science degree and has worked in rehabilitation, believes the exercises were “inappropriate and dangerous.” He said that while compensation is not his main goal, he wants to seek “accountability, safety, and protection for our seniors, so that no one else suffers the same preventable harm.”
He tried to get help from the Singapore Physiotherapy Association and his Member of Parliament, but was told they couldn’t help with a private company’s business. He said his family feels lost with “nobody to turn to or guide [them] through this.” He hopes his story will be a warning to others.
In a statement to Mothership, a physiotherapist from Thrive Healthcare, Lenis Phoa, said they found “no evidence of negligence by instructors or staff” and that it was an “unfortunate accident.” She said they have reviewed their program and are cooperating with the Safe Sport Commission Singapore, which is reviewing the case.
L later said that the company told him they would not provide medical compensation because it falls outside of “what they are able to provide.”
