California 8-year-old known for 'wanting to be friends with everybody' brutally bullied, mom says
LOMA LINDA, Calif. - A mother of an 8-year-old boy is upset after she says her son was maliciously bullied.
Madeline Flores' son is currently at a hospital in Loma Linda and in serious condition. Her son Carter's injuries were so severe that doctors told the family that if they came to the hospital 12 hours later than their actual arrival time, the 8-year-old may have had to get his leg amputated.
His mom tells FOX 11 that her son Carter Flores is liked by everyone, except for one kid who has completely turned his life upside down.
"When he told me what happened, my stomach dropped because this was something I was trying to prevent from happening all year," said Madeline Flores.
Doctors had to perform multiple surgeries on Carter and he'll need long-term care.
"For them to tell you that he might come out of surgery with a hole in his leg because they would have to cut out as much tissue, or that they might have to amputate his leg, or that if it gets in his blood, he could die," Madeline Flores recalled the doctors telling her.
"They had to come to terms with my son being critically ill at one point, and it was the most heartbreaking thing because he doesn't understand why somebody would want to hurt him. He just wants to be friends with everybody at his school," she adds.
The mom claims a new student in Carter's class did not want to be friends with her son. She said the boy had been bullying Carter at Corona Ranch Elementary School all year.
"He needed to see the whiteboard better, so he went to go reference it. And when he came down on his knee, at some point, the little boy had the pencil in his hand and was holding it like this, and Carter's knee came directly onto it with force, and it was held still," Madeline Flores said.
The mom told FOX 11 that incident chipped Carter's patella bone and "went all the way through."
The pencil fractured Carter's Kneebone. And after a misdiagnosis elsewhere, Carter is now also fighting Strep A, a potentially deadly bacterial infection. His mother tells FOX 11 that she has warned the school about this bully after prior incidents.
Corona Norco Unified School District issued the following statement to FOX 11 that read, in part,
"After a thorough investigation of the incident of the students involved and several witnesses, it was determined to be an unfortunate accident."
"Is there any part of you that thinks that this could have been an accident?" FOX 11's Hailey Winslow asked Madeline.
"To me, an accident is something that wasn't able to be prevented and this was completely preventable," she responded. "And, you know, I'm going to choose to trust that my son would never lie to me with something like this. I mean, given the position that he's in, you know, he just wants to make sure it doesn't happen to his friends."
A GoFundMe page has been launched in hopes of helping the family cover medical expenses. Those interested in helping Carter and his family can click here for more information.