Teacher suffers brain injuries

http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-news/teacher-suffers-brain-injuries-1070322.html

Teacher suffers brain injuries [After hearing tardy bell, 8th-grader sprinted down hallway, colliding with her. By Andy Sedlak, Staff Writer 12:41 AM Wednesday, February 2, 2011 MIDDLETOWN — A Verity Middle School tutor is recovering from a fractured skull and a bruised brain after being knocked down in the hallway by a student running late for class. Phyllis Cunningham, 61, is being cared for by family members after being released Friday from Atrium Medical Center. Doctors told Cunningham she likely would lose her sense of taste and smell due to her brain trauma, which included a severe concussion, according to family members. “She’s pretty rough,” said her son-in-law Jim Cunningham. “We’re providing her with 24-hour monitoring. The doctor’s orders are to rest, so we’re making sure she’s doing that.” Cunningham was injured when an eighth-grade boy sprinted out of a restroom after hearing the tardy bell and collided with her. The impact caused Cunningham to hit her head on the hallway floor, rendering her unconscious for 5 or 6 minutes, according to police reports and family accounts. She suffered a severe concussion, skull fracture to the back of the head and a moderate brain bruise and was rushed to Atrium for treatment. She can’t stand for long periods of time and suffers from extreme headaches, which doctors said are likely to persist for up to eight weeks, Jim Cunningham said. Verity Principal Greg Williams said the 13-year-old student at fault was given two days of in-school suspension for running in the hallway. He said the incident is being viewed by the school as an accident. “It was one of those things where we had a student whose main concern was getting to class,” Williams said. “When the incident happened, he was apologizing immediately.” Middletown police Detective Fred Shuemake has been assigned to investigate the incident. The 13-year-old could be cited into Butler County Juvenile Court for injuring Cunningham, according to police reports. Shuemake declined to comment Tuesday on the status of the investigation. Cunningham retired as a full-time teacher at Middletown High School about five years ago. Shortly thereafter, she was given a job as a part-time aide working about five hours a day.

The part the Journal left out is that not one person from MCSD administration bothered to go to the hospital to check in on their employee who suffered serious head trauma while on the job. Classy.

I got my information from a family member of the injured teacher who complained that when the incident occurred a call to one of the MCSD administration person was answered a statement that they were nearly at home for the evening and no visit had been made.

If members visited on Friday then I stand corrected.

This is just one of those things that could have been avoided but people look past what can be done to let it pass.  I mean, why is there even the need for the kid to run. I know a tardy mark is really something that is discussed over and going a little earlier could have solved the problem.  I am not going to point fingers to identify who is at fault because this is just plain wrong in any angle.