Children are at risk of bullying every day, and many of them hide the pain until they are at their breaking point. Parents and school staff must be vigilant, but they often miss or ignore the signs.
A mother was worried about her son’s sudden behavior change, and she tried her best to help him. However, she didn’t get enough support from guidance counselors and staff, and her son suffered as a result.
Deidre Fell-O’Brien is a mom of five whose teen son’s life has been turned upside-down by bullies. Unfortunately, the perpetrators aren’t always held responsible, meaning that alternative action sometimes needs to be taken.
Deidre decided to take to Social media to share her family’s story and raise awareness about the serious impact bullying can have on a young life.
“There has been a lot of talk about bullying lately,” the mom wrote on Instagram. “I would like to share my family’s experience with bullying. My beautiful son Liam turned thirteen years old on September 8. He should be in school and playing soccer, but he is not. He is at a medical center in Princeton, New Jersey, being treated for depression and an eating disorder.”
Because her son’s bullies were so relentless in their cruelty, their evil ways sent poor Liam to the hospital because he had gotten so weak after he stopped taking care of himself.
“He has actually been hospitalized for five weeks,” Liam’s mother wrote on Instagram. “He hasn’t been home or slept in his bed. He hasn’t been able to watch football with his dad on Sundays. How did we get here? Liam went into seventh grade very happy. He had lots of friends. He was always on the go, meeting friends on Seventh Street, riding his bike, playing soccer, and he loved food. A cowboy sandwich was his absolute favorite. He made the seventh-grade soccer team and was so happy and proud. He is an amazing soccer player, and he earned a spot on the team. As the season ended and winter came, Liam gave me back his iPhone.”
One of the clear signs that Liam was anything but “fine” was his lack of appetite. The youngster was no longer interested in food, and his parents noticed a massive drop in his weight.
They took him to a pediatrician who was immediately concerned about his heart rate. The doctor admitted him to the hospital for a health condition.
The father noted:
“I also noticed that he used to have a tremendous appetite, he would eat two breakfasts in the morning. Then all of a sudden he stopped eating. [We] knew something was going on.”
The parents reached out to Liam’s school to alert them about their son’s behavior changes. They believed the staff would look out for their precious boy, but things didn’t get better.
Liam’s father, Keith stated that they contacted the school’s guidance counselor and asked them to keep an eye on Liam. They purportedly reassured the couple and told them that he was doing fine.
However, when Liam returned home after school one day, he had worrying marks on his face that confirmed Keith and Deirdre‘s worst fears.
Liam could no longer hide the bullying, and his mother was in tears as she begged him to open up about his experiences at school.
Eventually, Liam opened up to his mother, Deirdre said:
“He finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. He was told he was weird, he was fat, his freckles were weird, his eyebrows were weird.”
Liam revealed that the harsh bullying happened every day, so he stopped playing soccer, eating, and wanting to go to school.
The parents shared:
“I was told Liam’s perception may have been different from reality. They just couldn’t find evidence that this happened. I have a picture of a bruise on his face, they said staff said he didn’t exhibit behavior that would suggest something just happened to him.”
An amazing response since the bullying made Liam so sick he nearly died.
He needed a heart monitor and a feeding tube to manage the effects of his depression and eating disorder which resulted from being bullied. He had a hard time but his family continued to stay strong for him.
Thankfully, Liam is doing better now, Liam returned to his family – AND the same school!
Watch the video below for more details:
Source: AWM