THUNDER BAY -- On the same day pink shirts were worn across across the country to make a stand against bullying, one local student says he was being choked by his harasser.
A day later, the student is upset but unharmed after being the victim of the choking incident on a school bus Wednesday afternoon. Carrie Walsh's nine-year-old son started going to the school less than a month ago.
Since the first week he'd been the target of a Grade 7 bully on the bus.
That bullying escalated Wednesday when she says her son was pinned to the ground and strangled by the older student until a female student was able to separate them.
"He was afraid because he couldn't breathe and he was trying to hit the boy to get him off of him," Walsh said. "If not for her I don't really know what would've happened."
"If they had gone over a bump he could've crushed his windpipe."
Her son was winded and upset when he got off the bus. Walsh was speaking to the driver when the older boy started yelling at her that her son started the incident by using foul language and being inappropriate.
"He was so out of control and so upset that it just threw me off," Walsh said.
The driver said the school, board and bus company would be notified. Walsh then went inside and called the school and has since had an in-person meeting with the principal. She also called the OPP, which sent an ambulance to check on her son and determined that he wasn't hurt.
On Thursday morning she was told the student would be suspended. Walsh said this wasn't just a schoolyard fight.
"The nature of the violence. It was so violent, like grabbing him and strangling him that it really sacred me," she said.
Walsh wants the two to have a restorative circle and hopefully build a relationship. She's also worried about the older student's well-being.
"Maybe something's going on. Maybe he's bullied or something i don't know," she said. "I'm sure that he's very upset little boy if he feels the need to lash out."
She kept her son home from school Thursday and plans to drive him until he's ready to take the bus again and the school has a plan in place.
Lakehead Public schools education officer Jeff Upton said the school and the board are aware of the incident.
"An investigation is occurring and all safe school protocols are being followed in a timely manner," he said.
