Bullying attack leaves 6th-grader in coma, family says

Student in coma after bullying: Screen shot from the school website showing posters made for anti-bullying month at Darby Township elementary school in Pennsylvania. IMAGE

www.sedelco.org. Student in coma after bullying: Screen shot from the school website showing posters made for anti-bullying month at Darby Township elementary school in Pennsylvania. IMAGE

2/8/13 By Riya Bhattacharjee

Authorities are investigating the incident, which took place Jan. 10 in a schoolyard at Darby Township School in Pennsylvania.

A Pennsylvania sixth-grader remains in a medically-induced coma almost four weeks after a schoolyard fight with classmates whom his parents say bullied him.

Authorities are investigating the fight, which took place Jan. 10 at Darby Township School in Darby Township, Pa., the local paper, DelcoTimes.com, reported. It said family members of 11-year-old Bailey O'Neill were blaming "two bullies" for his injuries.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan told DelcoTimes.com that the bullying was being investigated to "determine if it did occur, or if it was a schoolyard fight."

Whelan said investigators will be looking at Bailey's medical records to determine the cause of his medical condition.

The principal's office at the school refused to comment to MSN News.

Southeast Delco School District Superintendent Stephen D. Butz said Thursday in a prepared statement that the district had asked township police to assist with the investigation.

"We are aware of a sixth-grade student who has been hospitalized," he said. "We are aware of an incident with another student that took place at Darby Township School prior to this hospitalization. We are very concerned about the medical condition of this student. And our thoughts and prayers are with him."

Video: Bullied boy in coma after schoolyard fight

Bailey's grandmother Joy Fecanin told DelcoTimes.com that he had suffered a broken nose and a concussion after being "jumped" by two 11-year-old students during lunch recess.

Bailey's parents took him to the A.I. DuPont hospital in Wilmington, Del., where he was treated and released. But when they returned home, Bailey wasn't himself, his father, Rob O'Neill, told WPVI-TV in Philadelphia.

A few days later, Bailey started having seizures and was rushed to the hospital, where doctors put him in a medically-induced coma.

"I want to hear his voice, his mother wants to hear his voice," Rob O'Neill said during an interview with WPVI-TV.

Bullying is a common problem in schools. At a White House conference on bullying prevention in 2011, President Barack Obama said "almost 3 million students have said they were pushed, shoved, tripped, even spit on during the school year."

Messages left on a Darby Township Forum website called for justice for the 11-year-old boy and demanded that the culprits to be punished.

The Darby Township School website features a number of messages and posters for "anti-bully month," which is October.

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