Mother Relocates After 9-Year-Old’s Fingers Severed in Portugal School Attack

Overview

• According to the mother, two classmates followed her son into a bathroom at Escola Básica de Fonte Coberta in Cinfães on November 10 and crushed his fingers in a door until parts were amputated.
• Surgeons at Hospital São João in Porto said reimplantation was not possible, performed a roughly three-hour operation, and used tissue to cover exposed bone, leaving partial loss of the index and middle fingers.
• The mother says the school initially minimized the incident as play that went wrong and failed to preserve all evidence, while the school grouping’s director says emergency help was promptly called and an internal review is underway.
• A hospital social worker notified Portugal’s child-protection commission (CPCJ), which opened an investigation, and the mother filed a police complaint and engaged lawyers.
• Citing fear of reprisals, the family has left their home area for another city as the child recovers at home, with the mother alleging prior bullying and xenophobic abuse at the school and reporting that he now needs medication to sleep.