Seven-Year-Old Undergoes Emergency Brain Surgery After Alleged Playground Assault

A seven-year-old boy has taken emergency brain surgery after allegedly being punched in the head by another student in the playground at a Melbourne school last month.

Due to severe injuries, including a brain haemorrhage and broken teeth, Jayden Pham, a Year 1 student at St John Vianney’s Primary School in Mulgrave, was put into an induced coma.

Stay up-to-date on the latest news with The Victorian Briefing – keeping you in the loop with news as it hits:

“He started hitting me in the head and that hurt quite a lot,” Jayden told Nine News on Wednesday.

“When the bell rang, I stood up and he punched me in the chin and my tooth fell out. It hurt a bit. My friends told the teachers when the bell rang.”

Four days later, Jayden experienced a painful headache.

“He (was in) really bad pain, crying the whole night and vomiting,” Ms Pham told Nine news.

Jayden was then rushed to Monash Medical Centre where he underwent emergency surgery for bleeding on the brian. As of Thursday, Jayden remained in the hospital, continuing his recovery.  

His parents allege the school breached its duty of care.

“We are concerned about how the school has handled this situation as it seems the incident occurred while there were no teachers present,” Ms Pham said.

In a media statement released by St John Vianney’s Primary School Principal Andrew Mullay, it said the safety of students was the school’s number one priority.

“We take our responsibilities extremely seriously,” he said.

“In accordance with our clear policies and procedures, no form of bullying or violence is ever acceptable,” he added.

“We will continue to offer full support to the family.”

Subscribe to The Briefing, Australia’s fastest-growing news podcast on Listnr today. The Briefing serves up the latest news headlines and a deep dive into a topic affecting you. All in under 20 minutes.