The principal and two teachers at a middle school in Ningxiang, Hunan province, have been suspended after a 14-year-old student was sent to the hospital's intensive care unit after being told by a teacher to do 200 squats.

An official from the education bureau of Ningxiang told Red Star News that the student had been transferred to an ordinary hospital bed and is no longer facing life-threatening conditions.

The student's father said in an online post that his son was ordered to do 200 squats by his head teacher on Sept 12 after he spoke with classmates during class. The student did not feel well afterward but stayed at school.

During a physical education class two days later, the teacher told him to run, even after the boy told the teacher that his legs hurt and asked to be excused from the exercise.

The teacher insisted he participate and told him he should walk if he couldn't run, Red Star News reported.

After the student ran two laps, one of his legs went numb, and his mother took him home.

The family sent him to a local hospital and was admitted to the ICU. After three days, his condition did not improve much and he was transferred to the ICU of Xiangya Hospital of Central South University in Changsha.

The student's mother told Jinan Daily that her son was diagnosed by the hospital in Ningxiang with rhabdomyolysis, a deterioration in muscle fiber, as well as liver failure and rash.

According to Red Star News, the PE teacher asked the student to walk for one-and-a-half laps as he believed walking would help alleviate the muscle pain.

The school has promised to pay the hospital bills for the student and has already paid 10,000 yuan ($1,369) to his family.