A Los Angeles school district is being sued after a 12-year-old middle school student allegedly sustained permanent brain and spinal injuries in an assault perpetrated by another student last year. In her lawsuit, the victim’s mother alleges that her son was brutally assaulted and strangled at school by another student (a 14-year-old boy). In a television interview, the mother alleges that school officials were aware of the attacker’s propensity for violence yet failed to take the actions necessary to protect other students.
This tragic incident highlights the importance of calling a professional Los Angeles brain injury lawyer for legal counsel if your child has suffered a brain injury at school.
The violent incident
A surveillance video of the violent incident shows the 12-year-old child being punched and shoved against an outside wall before the view is obscured by a crowd of students. Ultimately, the video shows the child being carried into and laid on the floor of the school office. The student’s mother arrived 30 minutes later, and even though the child had apparently had several seizures in the interim, the school hadn’t yet called 911. The child’s mother alleges that she had to ask other students in order to find out what had happened to her son—school officials were not immediately forthcoming with information.
If a loved one—especially a child—has experienced a brain injury due to someone else's negligence, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys on our team for a free consultation.
The aftermath
The victim’s mother is suing the school district for what she says doctors describe as permanent brain and spinal injuries. She shares that her son continues to struggle with the injuries he incurred in that beating. The woman’s attorney plainly states that the school’s staff “did everything wrong, every step of the way, and showed a callous disregard for my 12-year-old client’s life and well-being.”
Children and brain injuries
According to the Brain Injury Association of America, symptoms associated with brain injuries are often similar in both children and adults. Some of the most common signs of brain injuries include:
- Speech, vision, or hearing impairments
- Headaches
- Diminished concentration and/or attention span
- Mood swings, anxiety, and/or depression
While the symptoms suffered by adults and children can be similar, the impact is often vastly different. The Association points out that children are not simply miniaturized versions of adults. In fact, children’s brains are in the process of developing. Further, the cognitive impairments caused by brain injuries may not make themselves known until the child grows older and faces increased social and educational expectations. Such injuries can lead to a lifetime of living and learning impediments, and they affect not only the injured child, but also his or her family, friends, community, and schools.
Children’s brain injuries and recovery
The past medical understanding regarding childhood brain injuries used to be that children—because of the increased plasticity of their brains—recover more completely than adults do. Recent research, however, finds that brain injuries sustained in childhood often have an even more devastating impact that an injury of similar severity sustained as an adult.
If your child has sustained a brain injury caused by someone else’s negligence, consult with an experienced Los Angeles brain injury lawyer today
A serious brain injury can alter the course of a victim’s life. When that victim is a child, it makes the injury that much more difficult and devastating. If someone else’s negligence leaves your child with a brain injury, the dedicated lawyers at Blair & Ramirez LLP in Los Angeles are on your side. Brain injuries in children often have overarching negative effects that require ongoing care.
Our experienced brain injury attorneys have the skill, knowledge, and commitment to aggressively advocate for the compensation to which your child is entitled. We’re here to help. Contact or call us at (213) 568-4000 today.