Furious father Tamer Fhas said his son’s school denies the ongoing bullying, which left the boy seriously injured and hospitalised.
Youssef, 13, still needed a walker when he was discharged from hospital in late May after an incident during gym class at Minaret College.
The school, located in Officer, 53km south-east of Melbourne’s CBD, is one of the city’s leading Islamic schools.
The teen said another student had previously pushed him to the ground twice during a supervised soccer game, then injured him when he pushed Youssef a third time.
“He held my shoulders and pushed me on my back and my head, and I fell, and I couldn’t do anything. I screamed so hard. I couldn’t move any part of my body,” Youssef said 7News.
He had to be carried to the school’s infirmary by classmates. From there, the staff called his father, but he could not immediately leave work to be with his son.
A school staff member accompanied Youssef in the ambulance that took him to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.
Although the hospital was told the incident had occurred “outside of school,” according to the report, took place on Thursday, May 30 at 1:45 PM, a school day.
Furious father Tamer Mousa has said his son’s school denies the ongoing bullying that left Youssef (pictured) seriously injured and hospitalised.
A medical report obtained by Channel 7 revealed that Youssef’s paraspinal muscles between his C4 and T1 vertebrae were torn and his C6 vertebra suffered trabecular microfractures.
Upon his discharge from the hospital, the teenager not only required a walker, but was also given a soft collar, a prescription for Endone for pain and a physical therapy plan.
Youssef said he had previously told school staff that bullying was taking place, including isolation, name-calling and insults about wearing glasses.
According to his father, two teachers listened to his concerns, but Youssef said their warnings to the alleged bully were ineffective.
However, the school denies that the teenager has reported previous incidents of bullying to staff.
“We have not received any reports of bullying from this student or his family since he joined the school last year,” said the school’s director, Mohammed Taksim. Seven.
‘Minaret College staff responded quickly and professionally to the care of a student who was injured while playing football on the school field during a physical education class.
“Although there was no evidence of bullying, the matter was investigated as a serious incident and resolved appropriately.”
Mr Taksim said the school does what it can “to prevent bullying and respond quickly when it does happen”, and that it has “a very comprehensive anti-bullying programme for all pupils in all years”.
However, Mr Mousa said the school admitted there had been bullying during a personal conversation.
He claimed that he was also advised to look at other school options for his children as he had lost confidence in Minaret College.
The father said a social worker reported “a profound impact on Youssef’s mental well-being,” including “emotional distress, anxiety and depression as a result of the prolonged bullying.”
“I really don’t want that guy to ever come to me and I don’t want to go to school. I have a lot of stress and anxiety about going back to school,” Youssef said.
‘I am very scared, have nightmares and it is very difficult to walk without the support frame. I have hardly any feeling in the left side of my body.’
Ultimately, the teenager returned to school, more than two months after the alleged incident.
Minaret College (pictured) denied the teenager had reported previous incidents of bullying to staff
Although the hospital was told, according to the report (pictured), that the incident had occurred “outside school hours,” it happened at 1:45 p.m. on Thursday, May 30, a school day.
Although he no longer needs the walker, he still wears the neck brace and suffers from the alleged bullying.
Mr. Mousa wants to transfer his four children to another school.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Minaret College for further comment.
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