'It could've been avoided': Woman warns after getting injured by barbell in gym

A regular gym session became a close shave for a woman who was recently injured after a barbell fell off its rack, hitting her in the head and arm. 

Sunny Lim posted CCTV footage of the accident on her TikTok account on Sunday (Aug 7).

As a disclaimer, the woman clarified that she did not mean to shame the man, but instead wanted viewers to "learn from this accident". 

In the now-deleted video, Lim could be seen helping her friend load his barbell with plates.

Another user also happened to take over the squat rack next to her, and began removing the 20kg plates on the barbell. According to the video, there were four 20kg plates on each side of the barbell. 

An empty barbell usually weighs between 15kg to 20kg. 

Unfortunately, the man removed all the plates from one side of the barbell too quickly, and the weight imbalance caused the barbell to fall toward Lim. 

Lim was grimacing in pain as she felt the impact of weight.

"At this point I was on auto-pilot and my panic response was to smile even though it hurt," Lim wrote in the video. 

She added that the consequences would've been a lot worse had she been standing any nearer the squat rack, or if she didn't use her foot to push away the bar. 

"It could've been avoided," she wrote. "So please be more mindful in the gym and watch out for each other so that accidents like these can be avoided." 

Lim's video was reposted on Hardware Zone, where some netizens have identified the gym as Anytime Fitness Choa Chu Kang. 

AsiaOne has reached out to Anytime Fitness Choa Chu Kang for comment. 

On Monday, Lim posted on Instagram that she was at a hospital's accident and emergency department (A&E) to check on her injuries, as she was having a headache and feeling lethargic. 

In response to AsiaOne's queries, Lim said that the doctors at the A&E told her after a physical examination that it was "nothing too serious". 

Lim added that she feels much better and is ready to head back to the gym. Separately, the man who dropped the barbell on Lim has also reached out to her, she added, and has offered to foot her medical bill.

"He did not see the barbell hitting me from his angle and he sincerely apologised to me via phone call and also on text," said Lim.

In a TikTok video posted on Monday, Lim shared that she has accepted partial compensation from the man. 

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@sunnylimsl/video/7129488183246556418?lang=en[/embed]

Last year, a gym-goer in Hong Kong died after barbell fell on his chest during a workout. 

The 41-year-old man, surnamed Wong, was exercising at an outlet of 24/7 Fitness at Tin Ping Shopping Centre when the accident happened, reported South China Morning Post. 

Police investigations revealed that Wong had tried to push up the barbell, but did not manage to do so, causing it to fall on his chest. 

As he had been exercising alone, no one noticed the mishap. He was found unconscious with the barbell on his chest several minutes later. 

He was eventually conveyed to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries five days later. 

ALSO READ: Malaysian student dies after 108kg barbell crushes his neck at the gym

claudiatan@asiaone.com