It was ten years ago when Tami Charles and Donnie Bridges welcomed their ‘miracle baby,’ Seven Bridges.
As soon as Seven was born, he underwent multiple surgeries, including colostomy, which involved filling of an ostomy or colostomy bag.
The waterproof bag collects waste from the body and is needed when a person has infected abdomen or they have suffered an injury to the colon, or if there is a complete or partial block in their bowel.
Some patients wear a colostomy bag for a short period of time but in Seven’s case, he had to use it long-term.
The 5th grader wore the bag to Kerrick Elementary School as he would experience unexpected leaks. However, it is alleged that his classmates would taunt and tease him for his colostomy bag.
His classmates also bullied him for the smell, and those taunts resulted in his tragic death.
The situation worsened last year when he was on the school bus and a student had called him the N-word. One of his friends told him to beat up the student but Seven refused. Then his friend started choking him.
The young boy said at that time: “I still can’t get him choking me out of my head. I was thinking, ‘Why is he doing that?’ I thought he was my friend.”
The mother, Tami, called out the school district and took to social media with a video that went viral. “You [are not going to] call him [the N-word], choke him, and tell me you handled it. Did you? Did you?”
“Do you guys have anything implemented on what happens on the victim’s side?” she asked. Tami said that there was no referral, paperwork or incident report filed regarding the incident.
When WHAS11 requested a copy of report and bus surveillance footage, neither the school district nor the school responded.
“I know that I can get it out of my mind, and tomorrow is like a better day, so I can still make friends with him,” Seven said at that time.
But the situation didn’t improve and Tami found her son lifeless in the closet. “I saw my son dead. That’s something in my head,” Tami said.
Her husband Donnie, added: “For the few minutes that we left, he didn’t want us to see that.”
Seven took his own life because of the insensitivity and cruelty of other children his age. Had the school acted with diligence and swiftly, the tragic incident could’ve been prevented.
Renee Murphy, an official from the school district, said: “We are devastated. Our hearts are breaking for this family. This school community is hurting right now.”
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Replaced!