KENT COUNTY, Mich. — A Kent County mother is speaking up after her disabled son was knocked over on the playground in his wheelchair at Alpine Elementary School.
She says the Kenowa Hills School District has taken steps to protect him, but it still continues.
Brooke Humphrey sent 13 ON YOUR SIDE video of her 6-year-old son, Jasper, being knocked over in his wheelchair last week. The school says they believe it was just an accident, but Humphrey says this is not the first time her son has been picked on.
Surveillance video shows Jasper falling from his wheelchair while playing outside during recess.
The next day, Jasper was in the hospital.
"We were told that it wasn't that big of a deal, he didn't hit his head, it wasn't that hard," Humphrey said. "And come to find out the next day when he starts puking and showing shunt malfunctions that it was bad."
Jasper suffers from several severe medical conditions, including spina bifida and hydrocephalus, so he has a shunt in his brain. He also can't walk on his own and wears a brace around his legs and midsection.
His conditions mean that any bump or fall, no matter how small, can be very dangerous.
"We're lucky that he woke up and was breathing," Humphrey said, "because shunt malfunctioning, it can happen within that first day, it could happen a week from now. We're still not even in the clear with him."
Humphrey says that she does not believe this incident to be an accident, and Jasper has dealt with bullying on several occasions already just this year, and he has now been assigned an aid to watch him during recess.
"This was put into place a few weeks back because of the constant bullying that Jasper was getting: Kids punching him, kids grabbing his wheelchair and pulling him down," Humphrey said. "My child should not be coming home crying and frustrated to me like this."
Humphrey says she wonders how these types of things continue to happen after she's complained to the school several times. She also says that Jasper has not been properly taken care of, and that one day when she picked him up, his diaper hadn't been changed in eight hours.
"It's hard because it's my baby, you know," she said. "He's had all these different health complications and to trust him to go to somewhere I should be able to have peace of mind in my head that he's safe."
Humphrey hopes to use the most recent incident to teach other children to respect those with disabilities and treat their wheelchair as personal space.
"Kids aren't supposed to be touching his wheelchair or using it as a toy because it has been a constant issue," she said. "Teach your children what it is to be a good friend to special needs children, that you don't touch their equipment because this is life for them."
In a statement, Kenowa Hills Public Schools Superintendent Gerald Hopkins said, in part, "I am of course saddened this student was injured," and went on to say "the building principal does not believe this incident was the result of any malicious behavior or intent."
"I don't want that for any child. It's not just my child," Humphrey said. "We stand up for him because we want to make sure he knows how to stand up for himself when he gets older and we're not right there."
The school sent an email to all of the families in the district explaining the importance of making sure students understand to respect one another including those in wheelchairs, but Humphrey says she's frustrated that it took this long for the problem to be brought to light.
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