WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Spelling Bee took a scary turn Thursday when a 13-year-old Colorado boy appeared to faint and collapsed on stage, drawing gasps from an audience packed in for the finals. Akshay Buddiga gathered himself after a few seconds, stood up and, to the amazement of the judges, immediately started spelling his word: "alopecoid."
He got it perfectly, drawing a standing ovation. Akshay went back to his chair, looking uncomfortable, when a Bee employee came to escort him off stage. He received medical help and was expected to return.
As the crowd buzzed, the next speller approached the microphone, and the competition resumed.
Earlier, Akshay, from Colorado Springs, methodically asked for clues - definition, language of origin, part of speech, other pronunciations before he calmly got "gruine." His big brother, Pratyush, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee two years ago.
