Mum of schoolgirl who attempted suicide before her 10th birthday shares heartbreaking photos

A 10-year-old girl tried to kill herself the day before her birthday because she was being bullied at school, according to her devastated mum.

Jess Brown rushed daughter Lilly-Jo Caldcott to Worcestershire Royal Hospital on Monday evening when the schoolgirl refused to eat and then ‘took tablets’.

Mum-of-three Jess told the Worcester News: “My daughter is fighting for her life because of bullying.”

Lilly-Jo started at Witton Middle School, Droitwich, in September and after a couple of weeks her mum noticed she was not herself and had become withdrawn.

In a desperate bid to warn other parents about the dangers of bullying, mum Jess posted pictures of Lilly-Jo in hospital on Facebook after the suicide attempt.

Jess, 27, from Droitwich, Worcestershire, blasted Lilly-Jo’s school, saying they failed to offer her daughter the proper support – something they deny.

She said: “I knew Lilly wasn’t right on Monday because she wasn’t eating and seemed really withdrawn after school.

“I sat her down and she admitted she’d taken some pills. I took her to the GP and he said we should go straight to hospital.

“I thought my daughter was going to die.

“I am disgusted my daughter is being bullied yet nothing is being done about it. Nobody seems to want to help at all.

“We will not be sending her back to the school, it’s not worth the risk.

“The doctor said if we had left her two more weeks, she would be dead. I’m not going to bury my child.

“My daughter is fighting for her life because of bullying.

“She had been going downhill, not eating, a lot more tired than she used to be.

“We’re backwards and forwards to the doctors. She admitted she was being bullied straight away.

“You never expect see your own daughter on her 10th birthday in hospital after a suicide attempt. It’s heartbreaking.”

Single-mum Jess, who has two other children, said she confronted the parents of girl who has bullied Lilly-Jo but they laughed at her.

She said: “She [the bully] 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.

“I have to fight with Lilly-Jo to get her to school now. She’s terrified to go back there.

“The day after Lilly overdosed I went round to the parents of the girl who has bullied her and showed them the pictures of her in hospital.

“I wanted to show them the impact of their daughter’s words but they just laughed at me and swore at me.

“I’ve told the school about Lilly being bullied but they haven’t done anything to help either.

“I feel that Lilly has been let down by the school who have not taken bullying seriously.”

Jess also posted an earlier video of Lilly pouring her heart out about being bullied at school and her attempts to tell her teachers at Witton Middle School, in Droitwich.

In the eight-minute video, Lilly-Jo says: “There is this kid at school who is bullying me since I have been at Witton.

“It has been getting worse and worser she pulled my hair in PE and stamped on my foot, I was crying and she went off laughing.

“Then she was staring at me in the changing rooms and calling me fat.

“She saw me eating two crumpets, a drink and a turkey baguette, that was all I had.

“I’m scared she’s going to call me fat.

“Every time I try to tell the school, I told the deputy headteacher on Wednesday morning, we were spending all morning, until 12.35pm having a meeting to get the truth out of her but she denied it all.

“She has sent text messages to my friend and now they are not speaking to me – they have a picture of me falling off a yellow bench and I was crying.

“She said that if I don’t move school she will carry on bullying me until I get angry.

“I don’t want to kill myself.”

In a letter to headteacher, Cath Crossley, last week, Jess described how her daughter has “constantly been bullied” by one other female pupil since starting at the school.

“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.

“I have to fight with Lilly-Jo to get her to school, with her crying, screaming and making herself sick,” the letter continued.

“I am disgusted my daughter is being bullied yet nothing is being done about it.”

Lilly-Jo is now in a stable condition in Worcestershire Royal Hospital and is being given counselling by mental health experts.

Cath Crossley, headteacher of Witton Middle School, told Worcester News: “We were made aware of these bullying allegations and took immediate action, following the relevant school policies and procedures.

“Face-to-face meetings were organised with myself, the deputy headteacher and our chair of Governors with the families involved and the families have also been working with our support worker.”

She added: “Our thoughts go out to Lily-Jo and her family at this difficult time.”

• Samaritans (116 123) operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year. If you prefer to write down how you’re feeling, or if you’re worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at [email protected]