A 13-year-old boy from Staten Island, New York, who was overwhelmed by unbearable bullying by his classmates hanged himself after detailing his ordeal in a heartbreaking letter he intended to send to officials at his Catholic school, KTLA sister station WPIX reported.
Danny Fitzpatrick, who attended Holy Angels Catholic School in Brooklyn, was repeatedly tormented and harassed by his classmates, according to the station. He sought help from his teachers, but they didn’t do much to protect him from the bullying, he wrote in the note.
The teen’s dad, Daniel Fitzpatrick, said in a Facebook Live video posted Saturday that the family went to the school’s principal and was told, “He’ll be fine.”
“‘You have to try harder Danny. Oh, I know, I know, these things will pass. Children can be such horrible creatures,'” Fitzpatrick recalled the principal telling him during that meeting.
As a last recourse, Danny took to pen and paper, detailing the agony he endured.
“I am writing this letter to tell about my experience in Holy Angels Catholic Academy,” the letter began. “At first it was good … lots of friends, good grades and great life. But I moved and went back but it was different. My old friends changed they didn’t talk to me they didn’t even like me.”
When Danny started sixth grade, a boy who was once his friend began bullying him, he wrote. Four other students joined in and “they did it constantly until I went into a fight.”
“But they continued. I gave up. The teachers either they didn’t do anything! Not get them in trouble even though they did trouble, I got in trouble instead,” Fitzpatrick continued.
He said eventually one teacher stepped in to help, but “it didn’t last long.”
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“I wanted to get out. I begged and pleaded, eventually I did get, I failed, but I didn’t care, I was out, that’s all [I] wanted,” he wrote at the end.
Danny intended to send that letter to the school to hold the teachers and principal accountable for allowing the continuous attacks to happen.
But the letter never made it to its destination.
Last Thursday, Danny hanged himself at his family’s home in Staten Island. His body was found by one of his three sisters.
“I don’t know why I missed this, why didn’t I save my son,” Maureen Fitzpatrick, Danny’s mother, told WPIX through tears.
She told the New York City-area television station that bullies followed her son after school, taunting the teen and calling him “baby.”
“They said, ‘come let’s fight,’ and my son wasn’t a fighter,” she recalled. “My son just wanted some friends. He needed a friend. Even one friend, I think he would have been OK.”
The letter has not been sent to officials, but grief-stricken family and friends posted the note on social media.
“My son took his life to get his message out there,” Daniel Fitzpatrick told the station.
“He wanted accountability,” Maureen Fitzpatrick added. “He wanted people to hear his story.”
Fitzpatrick was due to start eighth grade at the Sacred Heart School this fall.
“I miss my son very much,” Danny’s dad said in his Facebook Live, holding back tears. “No parent should have to bury their child. No child should have to go through what my son went through.”
Funeral services has been scheduled for Monday and Tuesday at Harmon Funeral Home, and on Wednesday at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family pay for the boy’s funeral expenses.
Carolyn Erstad, a spokesperson for the Brooklyn diocese, said that under state guidelines, a school guidance counselor was allowed to meet with Danny three times before requiring consent from his parents for more meetings.
A counselor did meet with Danny three times. At that point, school officials reached out to his parents, who declined to give consent for further meetings, according to Erstad.
“I spoke at length with the school principal, with one of Danny’s teachers,” she said. “They loved Danny. They cared about this young boy, and they sincerely believe they did everything in their power to help him.”
The Fitzpatricks said they sought professional help for their son instead.
“My son was distraught,” Maureen said. “I was pleading for help and they didn’t take it seriously. It fell on deaf ears.”
Danny’s funeral is scheduled to take place Wednesday.
