Mom says son forgives bullies who walked on him, but fears school

GLACE BAY, N.S. — The mother of a Cape Breton teen with cerebral palsy says her son has forgiven a group of students who bullied him last week — telling him to lie in a shallow stream as other students walked over him.

Terri McEachern said her son, 14-year-old Brett Corbett, received an apology over the weekend from two of the students involved.

But she said he is still afraid to return to Glace Bay High School because he doesn’t feel safe.

The incident was recorded and ended up posted on Facebook, causing widespread concern and condemnation.

McEachern said a girl posted it on social media to counter those who said the incident didn’t happen.

“To see the video of your kid laying there and kids mocking, ridiculing, it tore my heart out,” said McEachern, who added that she has been dealing with calls from media outlets as far away as Washington, D.C., and Africa since the story about her son broke.

She said a boy and a girl came to her home to apologize to Brett in person.

“He’s accepting of the apologies, he’s forgiving of them,” she said.

An emotional McEachern said she has to try to forgive as well.

McEachern said school officials hadn’t yet contacted her, and she’ll be looking for reassurance that her son will be safe in school.

“An apology and a one-day suspension doesn’t change tomorrow how Brett feels about what happened,” she said.