Schoolgirl overdosed after alleged ginger hair bullying
A LLANELLI schoolgirl nearly died after taking an overdose because she was allegedly being bullied over her ginger hair, her mum has said.
She said the whole family had been left “devastated” by what had happened to her 12-year-old daughter.
At one point she said her daughter had hacked off most of her hair with a pair of scissors.
But the biggest shock was when she came home to find her daughter turning grey and unresponsive on the floor.
“It’s been a very hard time,” she said.
“It more or less started on day one when she was walking home. Girls were calling her names and there was one incident where they even hit her with a stick,” claimed the mum, who does not want herself or her daughter named in this article.
“The bullying was mainly happening in the hallways where they would be spitting, pushing her and pulling her hair. She would come back with spit all over her and they would call her fat.
“We are currently waiting for confirmation of a diagnosis of Asperger’s and because of this she likes to keep herself to herself as she doesn’t like the crowded hallways.”
She said her daughter had pleaded with her not to send her to school.
“One day last year she was crying, saying ‘please don’t make me go’ but she had to go.
“She didn’t go school that day, into she walked into town and bought scissors out of her school money and hacked her hair off.
“Her hair was down to her bottom and people used to tell her that she looked like the Brave princess.
“It was cut above her shoulders and ears.”
Then, earlier this year, the family had just been on holiday and the daughter had returned “feeling positive”.
The family paid a visit to another family member’s house when the daughter asked if she could walk home instead of travelling in the car with the rest of her family.
But after being held up for longer than expected, the mum returned home to find her daughter unresponsive on the floor.
Her mum added: “She asked to walk home for fresh air.
“I came home and found her on the floor, grey, and she was unresponsive. I couldn’t wake her up.”
She said it was found that her daughter had overdosed.
“She was in hospital for five days.
“She had an allergic reaction to the drugs they gave to her to stop her liver failing and she now suffers with anaemia because the overdose affected her liver.”
Her mum explained that after the event her daughter had told her: “I didn’t want you to find me”, meaning that the family now no longer leave her on her own.
“We always check her bedroom for things she can harm herself with,” her mum said.
“She has severe anxiety attacks and doesn’t sleep. It’s completely taken over her life.
“Finding her like that on the floor is the most horrific thing I’ve ever been through.
“All the family are living on their nerves, we’re all devastated. My family hasn’t been the same.
“She’s not the same child she used to be.”
As a result, her daughter has not been at school or received any education for a number of months, meaning she is “really suffering” at home, according to her mum.
“She’s so depressed at home and she’s such an intelligent girl, when she’s not in school she’s really suffering.
“Last year she was a lovely, bubbly child but she’s missed so much school now her grades have fallen and her confidence is low.
“There needs something done.
“They need to stop ignoring bullying,” claimed the mum.
The daughter is a pupil at Coedcae Comprehensive School in Llanelli
Responding to these claims, the head teacher at Coedcae, Tracy Senchal, said: “We take a very firm stance on any allegations of bullying that are raised with us. We would urge the parent to get in touch with the school so that we can continue to support the family in the best interests of the pupil concerned.” to be