Last month, while a student at a private school in Fort Worth thought he was partaking in a video trend with three other students, he reportedly suffered a spinal cord injury.
Now, the parents of that student are suing the school, All Saints’ Episcopal School, accusing negligence, negligent supervision and breach of duty of care, among other allegations.
According to the lawsuit filed against the school last week, during the victim’s lunch period on May 7, three other students brought him into a hallway to supposedly take part in a video the three were filming. But reportedly, the three were filming a viral TikTok challenge called “skull crusher.”
The lawsuit states that, when the victim jumped for the supposed dance like the other students told him, two of the students kicked his legs out from under him in mid-air, causing him to land on his spine and hit his head on the ground.
This incident reportedly rendered the victim unconscious, and caused him to suffer three thoracic vertebrae fractures, the lawsuit alleges. He also reportedly suffered a severe concussion, injury to his spinal cord, and was briefly paralyzed.
The three other students reportedly started laughing afterwards, the suit details, calling him a “loser” and filming him on the ground for attention on social media.
“This assault was foreseeable and preventable,” the suit argues. “The same two students who assaulted F.F. performed the identical dangerous act on at least six other students on campus, which the School’s own security footage captured, without any intervention whatsoever by All Saints.”
The victim’s parents reportedly met with school administrators before the incident to warn about escalating bullying against the victim, the suit states, and warned the bullying would escalate to physical violence.
“The School cavalierly assured the family it would protect [the victim],” the suit reads. “It did not. It did nothing.”
According to the lawsuit, the school’s headmaster reportedly visited the family later and admitted the incident was his fault, and that he knew this culture was at the school.
The suit also alleges that the school reportedly moved the victim recklessly after the incident, without a neck brace or spinal board, and forced him to stand and walk despite his fractured vertebrae.
“No one called an ambulance for more than forty-five minutes following the assault,” the suit alleges. “The School’s shockingly incompetent emergency response likely aggravated F.F.’s already catastrophic injuries.”
The legal team for the parents of the victim issued the following statement on the lawsuit:
“Every parent wants their children to be safe. That is our most important job as parents. That is the bare minimum we all expect when we extend trust for the care of our children to another. All Saints Episcopal School failed our son in that fundamental duty, with devastating and permanent consequences for our family that will forever change our lives. We simply cannot stay silent when the school that was supposed to protect him failed our son in so many critical ways.”
When reached for comment, All Saints’ Episcopal School said it is aware of the suit, but that it hasn’t been served yet and doesn’t comment on pending litigation.