There were also delays in getting an ambulance to the school, with teachers telling him they were waiting for the school nurse.
“I was panicking,” he said.
Armaan Dhillon (left) with a friend before the incident.
Dhillon launched legal action in Victoria’s Supreme Court against his former school earlier this year.
He said the schoolyard scuffle left him with a spinal cord injury and requiring a wheelchair. He also now has fainting spells and serious psychological trauma.
The young man has undergone his eighth surgery to fix a surgical complication.
In court documents, it’s alleged the school breached its duty of care, failed to take reasonable steps to prevent injuries and failed to address behavioural disturbances the students posed to each other.
Both Dhillon and his parents are seeking damages from the school.
“I was going to do a trade and an online business and stuff, and had a lot of plans, which have gone out the window,” he said.
He also wants to make sure this could never happen to another student.
“I just didn’t get the justice for myself, and feel like there was something empty every day that I need to fill,” the 20-year-old said.
“I felt like the school put it aside, as if nothing happened.”
Dhillon with friends at school before the incident.
His parents have also struggled since their son was paralysed, having to cut back on work, make their home accessible for their son and manage their own mental health.
His mother remembers getting a call from the school and hearing her son’s voice on the phone.
“He kept saying, ‘Mum, something is really wrong, I can’t feel my legs,’” she told The Age.
She said the school nurse made a comment that her son was “putting on a show”, which has stuck in her mind.
“It’s shattered us,” she said.
“I feel it’s only us suffering from the last 3½ half years.”
While police were called and incident reports were filed, no charges were laid against the other teenager over the alleged assault.
The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority, the state’s education and training regulator, said it had not been aware of the incident at the time.
The regulator ensures schools comply with minimum standards for registration, including child safety standards, and may investigate when it receives a complaint or information alleging a school breached the minimum standards.
The family’s lawyer, Marin Karlos of Karlos Lawyers, said the legal action was about ensuring Dhillon and his parents were adequately compensated for the ongoing consequences resulting from the “horrific” incident.
“It’s about ensuring Armaan has all the facilities needed to continue to live his life,” he said.
The injuries were “completely avoidable” if teachers and adults were present at the time of the incident, Karlos alleged.
The lawyer said what happened to Dhillon underscores the importance of students being supervised on school premises.
Beaconhills Christian College in Pakenham. Credit: Paul Jeffers
Parents have a reasonable expectation that schools will take reasonable care and adequately supervise children while on school premises, he said.
“The fact that students were left to respond to such a critical incident alone with no adult supervision is unfathomable,” he said.
“It was only when some of the students ran to the front office that personnel attended to the incident.”
Beaconhills Christian College executive principal Stephen McGinley said the school received formal notice of legal action on Thursday and was working with its lawyers.
“However, as this matter is before the courts, it would be inappropriate for us to comment, other than to note that relevant authorities were notified at the time, and we are continuing to support the students and staff who were present when the incident occurred.”
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