Mother’s dismay after special needs son is stabbed and his vein cut in an attack at an elementary school
- School staff were unaware of the extent of the boy’s injuries
- It turned out he needed emergency surgery
A mother recounts the horrifying moment she found out her son, who has special needs, was stabbed at school and required emergency surgery.
The boy’s mother, Nicole Jackson, said she received a call from Kruger State School in Ipswich, Queensland, saying her son Xavier, 11, had been injured.
“What I want everyone to understand is that this is happening not only in our high schools, but also in primary schools and it’s not safe,” she said. sunrise on Thursday.
Queensland mum Nicole Jackson (right) is pictured with her son Xavier, who has special needs
“I don’t want to send my kids to school knowing it’s no longer safe there.”
The mother-of-seven said when she was called by the school following the incident last month in which her son was stabbed with a stick, staff were “not sure” how seriously injured he was.
Luckily for Xavier, she decided to take him to a doctor to see if his injuries were bad enough to go to the hospital or if they could be treated there.
The doctor discovered a terrible detail that forced her son to have urgent surgery.
“They started cleaning him and realized there was a severed vein, so they sent us straight to the emergency room to see a surgeon,” she said.
“He’s a trooper, he’s been very strong all along. I know if it were me I’d be sweating. He has shown great strength through it.’
Ms Jackson said staff shortages are to blame for what happened.
“It is sad to say that our schools are understaffed. They have so many little people and not enough supervision on the playgrounds, and unfortunately this is what happens.
“It’s not just one school, it’s happening everywhere,” she said.
She made a plea for the Queensland state government to intervene.
“The government needs to do a lot more to monitor what it can do for these schools,” she said.
The photo shows the injury to Xavier Jackson’s arm that required immediate surgery
“These are our babies, we need to step up before things get worse.”
In a statement, the Queensland Department of Education would not say what punishment the student who stabbed Xavier received, but said the matter was “taken extremely seriously.”
‘When a student is injured, the staff will always make every effort to assess the injury as accurately as possible. The student’s parent was immediately called.
Appropriate disciplinary action will be taken following the incident. Details cannot be given due to student privacy.’
The department added that the school was working with Xavier and his mother on the issue and that “counseling and support services are available to all members of the school community if they need it.”