Western Morning News (Saturday)
Repeated trips to hospital for little Sophia ‘brought on by bullying’
A six-year-old Devon girl has been hospitalised repeatedly and left vomiting up to 20 times an hour because of alleged bullying.
Little Sophia’s mother has shared her daughter’s story online – alongside a picture of the poorly girl in her hospital bed.
Carrie Golledge, from Tiverton, has described how Sophia has been left crying non-stop from the moment she gets home from school and suffering with severe anxiety because of bullying.
Carrie claimed the bullying has left her six-year-old girl with anxiety so severe it causes a violently upset stomach, and she wanted to share her story to show the damage bullying causes.
She claims the bullying has included a girl telling Sophia what she can and cannot eat – and who she can and cannot play with.
Carrie said: “Things were so bad by the end of the summer term that Sophia was out of school for a couple of weeks because her sickness was so severe – she would be up all night and vomiting 20 times an hour.
“She’d be in so much pain and because her upset stomach was so violent, it would lead to a water infection and her body struggled.
“We’ve had her in hospital with high fevers which they’ve struggled to control.”
Carrie said she knew her sickness was down to something happening at school when Sophia would perk up on her days off.
“She’s always been a small child but no matter what she ate, she didn’t seem to be gaining weight or really thriving at such,” said Carrie.
“Then we found out just how bad things had become for Sophia at school. This girl, who was supposed to be her best friend was telling her what she could eat and so if she didn’t like it, then she wasn’t eating.
“She’d come home at night and she would sob from the minute she got home at half-past three until the minute she went to bed. And when Sophia would try to take herself away from the people who were causing her distress, they would force the people who were playing with her to leave her on her own.
“So she was isolated from the people she was trying to mix with and make friends with.”
Carrie says school staff told Sophia just to play with someone else, and the headteacher kept her inside at break times to keep her away from trouble.
Carrie said: “That’s punishing the child that’s being bullied rather than addressing the issue,” Carrie said.
“When Sophia went to her teacher, she was told off for telling tales. Even though she’s crying herself to sleep and rocking herself to sleep because she’s in so much pain from anxiety.”
They claim the school promised to have dealt with the issue by the time Sophia returned to school in September. “But within 24 hours of her returning to school, she was back home again crying and vomiting and shaking. She was up all night with an upset stomach,” she said.
Carrie and her husband Chris decided to remove Sophia and her brother from the school. Sophia is now much happier in her new school and has come on in leaps and bounds.
“At one stage we were in and out of hospital where they’ve been checking if it’s IBS, or Crohn’s disease or colitis – she’s had blood tests and ultrasounds and scans,”she said.
“But the minute she was removed from the school, her health picked up, she’s put weight back on and she’s had a growth spurt.
“It’s the first time in about a year that she comes home from school and tells us what she’s done that day and about all the people she’s played with.”
While Sophia is better now, Carrie said it was heart breaking watching her child go through such a horrible ordeal.
“When something like happens, you have to put on your parent face in front of your child...but at the end of the day I’ve cried my eyes out.”
Carrie decided to share Sophia’s story in order to highlight the damage bullying can cause.
The school has been contacted for comment.