A young schoolboy with autism attempted suicide after developing a post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of bullying, his mother revealed. Jake Warfield was only 11 years old when he attempted suicide after being hit by a metal bar by bullies. He was seriously injured in the face, head, arms, knees and shoulders. His mother, Diane, told of Jake’s terrible experience and the lasting impact on his life as part of a campaign to change the law of bullying. She said that Jake had been dealing with bullies months
before the attack on the last day before Christmas holidays in December 2016.
According to the Metro, Diane said: ‘When I got to the school and saw him he burst into tears and I did too. ‘A group of boys had attacked him in school and he had blood pouring underneath his eye. ‘He was hit with a metal bar which had a hook on the end of it and he was struck 12 times. His head was physically misshapen. He was inconsolable.’
The bullies have been expelled from the Ferrers Academy in Burton, Staffordshire, but 14-yr-old Jake still suffers the consequences.
Diane said: “He had PTSD and a mental breakdown and was off school for three months. I wasn’t letting him go back there. ‘He tried to kill himself when he was 11. He was reliving it in his sleep, crying and begging for help – it was just heartbreaking to see. ‘Jake is autistic, so it is hard for him to communicate the way he is feeling, but after two years of counselling he is still not right. ‘He has really bad anxiety and he is scarred for life, with scars on his face, shoulder and knee.’ The teenager struggles to go out on his own and doesn’t like to be around big groups of people”
Diane, a mother of four, joined the parents of other bullied children to share Jake’s story in hopes of enacting laws to stop the harassment and bullying that her son experienced. She said: “‘It was nearly three years ago, but it has changed our lives completely. ‘It is still going on in schools everywhere up and down the country and we want to stop others from going through what we have been through. ‘People are taking their lives because of bullies.”
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