Mother’s horror after special needs son is stabbed and his vein severed in primary school attack
- School staff did not realise extent of boy’s injuries
- It turned out he needed emergency surgery
A mum has opened up about the horrific moment she found out her son, who has special needs, had been stabbed at school and needed emergency surgery.
The boy’s mother, Nicole Jackson, said she was called by Kruger State School in Ipswich, Queensland, and told her son Xavier, 11, had been injured.
‘What I want everyone to understand is that this isn’t just happening in our high schools, it’s happening in primary schools and it’s not safe,’ she told Sunrise on Thursday.
Queensland mum Nicole Jackson (right) is pictured with her son Xavier, who has special needs
‘I don’t want to be sending my children to school knowing that it isn’t safe out there anymore.’
The mother-of-seven said when she was called by the school after the incident last month where her son was stabbed with a stick, staff ‘weren’t sure’ how badly injured he was.
Fortunately for Xavier, she decided to take him to a doctor to see if his injuries were bad enough to go to hospital or if they could be treated there.
The doctor found a terrible detail that meant her son needed emergency surgery.
‘They started to clean him up and realised there was a severed vein, so they sent us straight to emergency to see a surgeon,’ she said.
‘He’s a trooper, he’s been really strong through the whole thing. I know if it was me, I’d be sooking. He’s shown a lot of strength through it.’
Ms Jackson said staff shortages are to blame for what happened.
‘It’s sad to say, our schools are understaffed. They have so many little people and not enough supervision in the playgrounds, and unfortunately this is what’s happening.
‘It’s not just one school, it’s happening everywhere,’ she said.
She made a plea to the Queensland state government to intervene.
‘The government needs to do a lot more to supervise what they are able to do for these schools,’ she said.
The injury to Xavier Jackson’s arm that required immediate surgery is pictured
‘These are our babies, we need to step up before it gets any worse.’
In a statement, Queensland’s Department of Education would not say what punishment was given to the student who stabbed Xavier, but said the matter was ‘treated extremely seriously’.
‘Whenever a student is injured, staff will always make every attempt to thoroughly assess the injury when possible. The student’s parent was called immediately.
‘Appropriate disciplinary consequences are being applied following the incident. Details cannot be provided due to student privacy.’
The department added that the school was working with Xavier and his mum on the issue and that ‘counselling and support services are available for all school community members should they require it’.
