A furious mom from East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, is accusing an elementary school of trying to cover up a school bus accident that left her son with Down syndrome, bloodied on the face.
The family of a 7-year-old boy, Michael Perrin, is demanding answers after their child got off the school bus in the morning, bloody and with scratches on his face.
The mother of the child, Elizabeth Aguero, 52, said that her younger son suffered severe injuries, including two facial fractures, after an accident on an elementary school bus in Pennsylvania.
Aguero said that his son had only been on the school bus to Resica Elementary School in East Stroudsburg for only 45 minutes on the morning of Wednesday, June 5, when the school officials called her to pick up her son.
The mother told the People news outlet:
"They told me there was an incident and that my son was bleeding. I needed to get there immediately, and [they asked], 'Should [we] call an ambulance?' It's hard to describe. It was horrible. It was hard to see my baby covered in blood."
Aguero said that when she arrived at the school, she found Perrin crying, and two nurses were with him. The nurses told the mother that they didn't know what happened, only that her son "fell off the bus when he was going to school in the morning."
Perrin is nonverbal and couldn't explain what happened.
The mother rushed her son to St. Luke's Hospital Monroe Campus.
According to Perrin's bother, Angel Rivera, post on Facebook, the boy was diagnosed with "two fractures in his face, his eye is swollen shut with leakage, and we still don't know the severity of his eye injuries."
The situation even got worse when the family was denied access to video footage of the incident.
Aguero added:
"Nobody wants to see their child hurt. There was no reason for my son to fall on his head. It's hard. They said they don't know exactly what happened. The school wouldn't allow me to see the [surveillance video]."
When the police arrived, Aguero was finally allowed to view the footage. The video revealed that the boy actually fell from the bus, but the mother blamed the school bus staff for negligence.
Aguero said, with tears on her face:
"I don't want this to happen to another kid. Another kid may not survive this. I want better training. Michael is not the first, but I want him to be the last."
"No one should have immunity against child negligence. That was total negligence. Michael is a special needs child. I want justice."
Aguero also said that the school bus staff should have been paying more attention to her son.
She's now arguing that there should be better training of the staff when dealing with students who have special needs in schools,
Perrin's incident has garnered internet attention, and many people are sympathizing with the boy. Even the famous rapper Cardi B weighed in on her Instagram Story, writing:
"#justiceformichael"
"We still speak for you Papi; you will be heard."
Cardi B added:
"Absolutely not today, Satan."