Scammer
Banned
Even on a dreary day, Abdullah Fisher wears sunglasses because it's too painful not to.
His mother says an aide restrained her son by putting him in a neck hold.
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY --
Even on a dreary day, Abdullah Fisher wears sunglasses because it's too painful not to.
Last Thursday, the 8th grader came home from the Dorothy Thomas School with hemorrhaging in both eyes and a strained neck.
"When Abdullah came he had blood running down to the left corner of his eyes and I couldn't believe it," said his mother, Deborah Williams, "I couldn't believe it, I said, 'Abdullah what happened?'"
Williams rushed him to the hospital and called the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
It turns out, Abdullah knocked papers out of his teacher's hand at the Dorothy Thomas School and refused to go to time out.
That's when an aide at the school restrained him by putting him in a neck hold.
"He was choking me and I kept telling him I couldn't breathe," said Fisher.
According to the Hillsborough County School district, the aide has worked there for two years and is well trained at restraining students who are out of control.
"All indications from the school are that he handled it properly," said Hillsborough County Schools spokesperson Linda Cobbe, "however, there is an investigation being conducted by Child Protective Services."
Williams said her son is mentally challenged and admits he can be disruptive. She said school officials called her to tell her Abdullah was restrained, but failed to say he was injured.
The 14 year old was moved from his last school two months ago for disruptive behavior, but Williams feels extreme force was used in this situation.
Cobbe said the aide is in another position where he's not dealing with children while the investigation takes place. She also said unruly kids can often pose a threat to teachers and students.
"They can be very difficult and depending on the size of the student more people would be in danger," said Cobbe. "Certainly, any student that's thrown things or flings their arms or is fighting is a danger not only to teachers but other students in the class."
Williams wants the aide to face criminal charges.
"I want justice to be served," she said. " I want punishment because if it was me, I'm pretty sure enough they would have jailed me and said child abuse."
Williams said the doctors are hopeful the hemorrhaging will go away in a few weeks. In the meantime, her son has been out of school for a week and she is trying to find another school for him to attend.
