Alexander Li, a year 11 student from Huntingtower School, was trekking in 39-degree heat at  Plumbago Station in South Australia when he became ill and died in 2016.

His parents, Xiao Jing Wei and Yi Nei Li, claim the Mount Waverley school’s negligence in running the camp led to their son’s heat-related death and their ongoing pain, suffering and distress.

In a statement of claim filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday, the boy’s parents said the school had failed to access up-to-date information about the weather and limit students' physical activity during the hottest part of the day.

They claim the school also failed to consider their son’s fitness and health when they instructed him to walk with a 17 kilogram pack and 7 litre water bottle in temperatures above 35 degrees.

Maurice Blackburn principal lawyer Dimi Ioannou, who is representing the boy’s parents, said Alexander’s death was a terrible and avoidable tragedy.

"Alexander’s parents trusted their much-loved son to the school and expected them to take care of him," she said.

"Instead he was made to march through intense heat carrying an extremely heavy backpack. This was an entirely avoidable death."

She said students should have never been forced to hike in such high temperatures.

"Alexander’s parents remain devastated by their son’s death."

The school has held a camp at the sheep and cattle station for almost 40 years and during the week-long event, students walk 50 to 60 kilometres.

While the camp is not compulsory, a Victorian Coroner’s report quoted principal Sholto Bowen as saying "there is an expectation that students attend camps".

The trouble began on February 22, the second day of the camp. Students set off from their campsite at 8am but by 10.30am, the weight of the backpack had left Alexander feeling fatigued.

One of Alexander’s classmates told the coroner that the young man was "hugging his water bag for dear life" and looked tired.

"Alex appeared to be fed up with walking," he said.

"He was lying down and it seemed as though he was having a bit of difficulty breathing."

At noon, as the temperature rose to 35.2 degrees and cloud cover evaporated, Alexander’s condition deteriorated.

During a break, he told teachers that he was really hot and couldn’t eat anything.

At 12.50pm, as the group lumbered over rocky hills and the temperature reached 36 degrees, Alexander sat under a rock formation and started hyperventilating.

"His breathing was fast and shallow and he appeared to have a panicked look on his face," a classmate told the coroner.

An hour later, as students were having a break, Alexander appeared tired and confused.

He’d drunk his entire water pack but continued to gulp down water from other packs. A teacher gave him some gastrolyte and monitored his pulse, which was high.

The group continued walking and by 2.40 pm the temperature hit 39.1 degrees

Alexander became uncoordinated, delusional and collapsed into a state of unconsciousness, according to his parents' statement of claim.

A support vehicle was called and teachers and students lifted Alexander into it and set the air-conditioning to maximum.

Alexander was barely conscious at this stage, and a teacher desperately tried to cool him down by pouring water over his body. It appeared Alexander had something stuck in his throat and his breathing was laboured and noisy.

An ambulance was called and when paramedics arrived, Alexander was convulsing, with rattling breaths. He went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead after unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate him.

Alexander’s parents said while they were told the camp conditions would be tough, they were not informed of the level of risk involved in the activities.

The school’s camp coordinator, Nicholas Green, told the coroner that once at Plumbago, staff do not check the temperature and instead work off weekly forecasts.

Deputy state coroner Iain West said the remoteness of the camp, the lack of easily accessible medical facilities and the fact that the temperature was not monitored daily created a “very real threat to the health and safety of all individuals involved”.

He said while Alexander was suffering from a viral infection, it was likely that he had died from a heat-related illness such as heatstroke.

The coroner recommended that Huntingtower reschedule its camp to milder weather and update its preparation booklets to reflect the risks of heat stroke, heat exhaustion and dehydration.

It recommended the school adopt better guidelines for heat stress management, including limiting strenuous activity to 60 minutes per session when the temperature is between 31 to 35 degrees and postponing activities when the temperature exceeds 36 degrees.

Alexander's parents both continue to suffer from anxiety and depression following the death of their son and are seeking costs for treatment.  His father has also made a claim for a loss of earnings as he has had to scale back his work at Monash University to part-time.

Principal Sholto Bowen said the school community was devastated by Alexander's death and had been in regular contact with his family to offer support.

"The welfare of our students and staff was and always will be paramount," he said.

He said he was unable to provide further comment because the matter was before court.