KUALA LUMPUR: The mother of an 11-year-old special needs girl who suffered a fractured tailbone and other serious spinal injuries following a chair prank is blaming her child's school for negligence.
Azera Yazid said that her daughter, Puteri Nur Atiqah, was left in excruciating pain after teachers failed to respond immediately to the incident– where a classmate pulled her chair as she was about to sit– and had refused to call an ambulance for her.
The school, located in Shah Alam, designates a special education class for pupils like Atiqah who have special needs.
However, Azera said that there is a significant lack of discernment among teachers assigned to the class who should be specifically trained to cater to special needs pupils.
The class, she added, comprises fewer than 10 pupils. After what's happened, Azera sees it as a clear sign that teachers there are inept at managing the classroom accordingly.
"Even in a class of fewer than 10 students, all with special needs, they (teachers) show an inability to efficiently manage it, thereby allowing such incidents to occur," she said.
Currently, Atiqah, who has cerebral palsy, suffers from persistent pain in the lower back, making it difficult to walk.
The injuries, her mother claims, have also caused discomfort during bowel movements, affecting digestion and water absorption, along with impairing other normal bodily functions.
She was also recently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety as a direct result of the incident.
Just last Thursday (Jan 11) Atiqah's father, Wan Amey Shahril Wan Ab Rahman, filed a suit through his lawyer, Soffian Azmir, at the Shah Alam High Court against three teachers and the headmaster of the school as well as naming the Education director-general and government as two other respondents.
According to Azera, both she and her husband sent letters of demand to them previously on Nov 23 but had received no response. This then prompted them to proceed with the lawsuit.
"We just want them to be responsible. Right now, we have to fork out our own money for all the medical expenses… and not to mention how this has disrupted our work schedule.
"This fall should've never happened. It happened in school, which was beyond our control. So when this happened, it really frustrated and upset us.
Azera adds that now, she is burdened with having to pocket all the expenses for treatment Atiqah is receiving as a result of the injuries she sustained.
"One physiotherapy session costs RM220, and she has physiotherapy twice a week.
"At the same time, she is being referred to another hospital, which incurs additional costs. Now, we have to refer her to a psychiatric hospital because of the PTSD she has been diagnosed with. So, all these add up," Azera told the New Straits Times.
She added that Atiqah, also known as Iqa, has been admitted to hospital six times ever since the incident last October.
Iqa's current situation has greatly affected their work lives as both she and her husband run their own businesses— one in catering and the other, managing a franchise.
They had to temporarily halt their business activities when she was admitted to the hospital because initially, she had to be carried around as she was in a wheelchair.
Although she is able to walk now, Iqa still has difficulty bearing weight on her feet which leads to frequent falls.
"They (school teachers) were negligent. They act as if it's nothing. Even on the day of the incident, the class teacher wasn't there.
"When I asked for help to take her to the hospital, she said she couldn't go out. And when I asked for help to call an ambulance, she said, 'Oh, I'm sorry, we can't call an ambulance. Only parents are allowed to take her'.
"That's what she said. So, I took it upon myself to get her immediate medical attention.
"I thought if that's the case, I could wait for a while because I had just finished preparing some meals for my catering business.
"After that, I rushed over to the school and arrived at around 11.20 am. I saw my daughter struggling to walk towards me. She was all alone and there was no help from anyone. No one had assisted her."
Azera said she was left in further disbelief when, despite Iqa's evident pain, her school teacher instructed her to take part in a class physical education (PE) exercise while waiting for Azera to arrive.
The NST has reached out to the school and is awaiting a response.