A young boy is currently in a medically induced coma after a playground fight with children his family says were bullying him, ABC News' Ben Waldron reports.
Bailly O'Neill was reportedly in a fight four weeks ago at his elementary school in Darby Township, Penn. Another student hit him several times in the face and "the blow fractured his nose and he fell to the ground," says Waldron.
He was treated for a concussion and sent home, but in the weeks following the fight, his father Rob noticed "that something wasn't quite right" with their son.
"He was sleeping. He was moody. He wasn't himself. He was angry a little bit. He wasn't really eating," his father told ABC Affiliate WPVI.
Soon after, O'Neill, a sixth-grade honors student, started having severe seizures, and doctors "were forced to put Bailey in a medically induced coma nearly two weeks ago," Waldron says.
His father Rob said that the boy who hit Bailey was suspended for two days, but no criminal charges have been filed.
"We take bullying seriously," said local school district Superintedent Stephen Butz in an interview with ABCNews.com. "We are very concerned about the medical condition of the student and our thoughts and prayers and with the family and students."
Reports of bullying in schools continue to rise in the U.S. According to the National Education Association, it is estimated that roughly 160,000 students "miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students."
The Association also notes that 1 in 7 students in grades K-12 have either been a bully or a victim of bullying, and 56 percent of students surveyed "personally witness some type of bullying at school."
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