Bullied schoolboy Raheem Bailey loses a finger after getting it caught in fence while fleeing his attackers
Strangers have raised over £40,000 for a boy who had his finger amputated after escaping bullies.
Raheem Bailey, 11, needed surgery after he got his finger caught in a fence while running away from bullies.
His mother Shantal Bailey says her son experienced ‘racial and physical abuse’ at his secondary school since starting in September last year.
She is fundraising to buy Raheem a prosthetic finger to help him ‘on the road to recovery’.
Ms Bailey says her son complained about people being ‘mean’ at Abertillery Learning Community in Gwent, South Wales, which has 1,600-pupils.
On Tuesday morning she got a call from her son ‘screaming in pain.’
The mother of four said she complained to the school a day before the incident.
Raheem said he was threatened with detention, even though he was the ‘one getting picked on.’
She said she was told the bullying would be managed by the following morning.
Ms Bailey said: ‘He had mentioned a few incidents of people being ‘mean to him’ recently.
‘I did not realise the extent of what he was going through until an incident this week.
‘On Tuesday morning break time, Raheem was attacked and beaten by a group of children whilst in school.
‘He was pushed to the ground and then repeatedly kicked.
‘He made a desperate attempt to leave the school grounds in order to escape the situation but caught his finger.
‘I received a phone call from Raheem and then the school informing me of the incident.
Ms Bailey is now assisting her son’s recovery after he spent six hours in surgery where doctor’s battled to save his finger.
She added: ‘From the day of the incident until now Abertillery learning community have not reached out to me to check on his wellbeing.
‘My son has got to live with this for the rest of his life.’
A spokesperson for Abertillery Learning Community said the school are working with police.
A Welsh government spokesperson said: ‘We condemn bullying and racial harassment in any form and expect allegations and incidents of bullying and racism to be fully investigated by schools with appropriate action taken to address the matter and prevent further instances from happening.
‘We understand that this incident is being investigated by the school and the local authority, and that Gwent Police are involved and carrying out an investigation.
‘As such, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.’