WSMV Channel 4 Student with special needs injured at Metro school

A student with special needs is black and blue, and his family is seeing red after he tumbled down a flight of stairs at school.

The young man has cerebral palsy, and he is supposed to be supervised at all times while in class.

But school officials say something went wrong with that plan.

The teenager's family says this was not the first incident they have had at Hunter's Lane, and they now plan to take legal action against the school.

George Green is wheelchair bound, and his family says his development is similar to that of a 5-year-old child.

So his aunt, Wendy Johnson, says there is no excuse for what happened to him Thursday afternoon.

"He doesn't deserve it. He has gone through a lot, and it's unacceptable," Johnson said.

Hunter's Lane Principal Susan Kessler says a teacher was assigned to watch George, but somehow he managed to wheel himself away from supervision and into danger.

"I think that person became distracted, and that's what we are investigating. We are taking this extremely seriously, because nothing like this has ever happened before and it can't be repeated," Kessler said.

George fell in his wheelchair down at least 12 steps, which resulted in stitches above and below his eye, two front teeth knocked out, bruising, sore wrists and a swollen face.

"We were at the hospital over 10 hours with them trying to get IVs in him and him fighting," Johnson said.

The teen's aunt says there have been other incidents at the school where George was treated improperly.

She says after this big fall, she wants him out of Hunter's Lane and somewhere with better supervision.

"Since he has been in the public school, it's really been rough. It has really been rough," Johnson said.

Kessler says she is devastated by what happened, and she says they are making sure this does not happen again.

Also, depending on what their investigation finds, there could be other consequences.

"That's when you look to see if there's additional training, if there is some kind of consequence issued," Kessler said.

Johnson says the family will do whatever is necessary to get George into another school.

"Whatever that problem is, it needs to be resolved. I have just watched him go through so much," she said.

Metro's employee division is investigating what happened, along with school officials.

George is back home from the hospital and resting.

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