Lilly-Jo Caldcott was described as a ray of sunshine by her loved ones.
Like any other ten-year-old girl she loved playing with her friends, exploring nature and spending time with her family.
But when Lilly-Jo suddenly started to withdraw from social activities and stopped eating, her mother knew something was seriously wrong.
However, her mother never imagined the nightmare that would soon unfold.
After a few weeks of starting middle school in Worcester, England, Lilly-Jo stopped wanting to go to school. She admitted straight away she was having problems with another girl at school, her mom said.
The bullying, both physical and psychological, just got worse and Lilly-Jo became more and more withdrawn.
Nothing changed
Getting her to school in the morning was a battle as Lilly-Jo was so distressed; she wasn’t eating and was making herself sick.
Her mom told Worcester News that over the course of 12 weeks she had been into the school every day to try and resolve the issue with staff but nothing changed.
In a letter to the school principal mom Jess described the hell that Lilly-Jo said she was experiencing.
“She has pulled her hair, pushed her, smacked Lilly-Jo and also shut a locker door on Lilly-Jo’s head, stamped on her foot when it was broken – the list is endless.”
‘Two more weeks, she would be dead’
Then one Monday afternoon Lilly was taken to her doctor after admitting that she had taken an unspecified number of tablets.
The doctor told Jess to take her daughter to A&E immediately after showing signs of disorientation. She spent the night in hospital and the next morning was in a stable condition.
“I’ve got a daughter now in hospital on her birthday on different drips and being examined by mental health doctors,” Jess said.
After all that happened, a once joyful and bubbly girl had been reduced to trying to take her own life.
“The doctor said if we had left her two more weeks, she would be dead. I’m not going to bury my child,” added Jess.
Jess took her daughter out of the school and today she feels able to talk about her ordeal.
‘Extremely seriously’
Jess, 27, said she contacted the alleged bully’s parents the day before and they called the police.
“I got hold of the mother’s number and rang her to try and resolve this out of school and she basically told me her daughter has done nothing wrong,” Jess explained for Worcester News.
“I rang again on Sunday and the mother and father were laughing down the phone, saying it was a joke.
“They egged me on to go to their house, so I did and they called the police,” she said.
The school principal said after being made aware of the bullying immediate action was taken.
“This school takes all allegations of bullying extremely seriously, this includes racist, homophobic, gender-based or bullying related to disabilities,” the principal said.
“Our school maintains a strict anti-bullying policy.”
When a young girl of 10 years tries to take her life because of bullying, it says something about society and the education system, despite attempts to resolve the situation.
Thankfully, the doctors could save Lilly-Jo, but in some cases, parents are forced to bury their children too early. Youngsters who report being frequently bullied by others are at increased risk of suicide-related behaviors, and negative physical and mental health outcomes.
No one should have to bury their child because of bullying!Im sharing Lilly’s story to highlight this important topic and to make everyone aware of the consequences of bullying.
If we can get more people to read this and realize how terrible bullying is, we may avoid someone doing the same thing as Lilly-Jo in the future.
If Lilly-Jo’s story touched you too, please help us raise awareness for anti-bullying by sharing her devastating story in hopes of saving the lives of other children.
