A disabled teenager who was knocked unconscious while at school has spoken out after a "disturbing" video of the incident began to circulate on social media.
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Brianna Smith has cerebral palsy spastic dysplasia which ultimately needs assistance through a walking frame or wheelchair to move around.
On May 6, she was standing on the oval at Orange High School in NSW's Central West when another student punched her in the face, knocking her unconscious.
"It was a disgustingly low, dog act for someone to do that," Brianna said of the attack.
"Coming from someone with a disability, it's just horrific."
She said the incident occurred about 11.30am and she was sent home from school about 1pm.
While the attack itself left its own mark, it was the response of the school which has angered Brianna.
"I was knocked unconscious; she hit me straight in my jaw and the school did not call the police and the school did not call the ambulance," the 15-year-old said.
"After the incident happened, (my family) had to call the police ourselves, because the school did not call the police or an ambulance."
A NSW Ambulance spokesman confirmed to the Central Western Daily that it had no record of any call to Orange High School that day which "matched the description" of the attack.
A police spokeswoman said they were not called about the incident until 5.20pm on May 6.
"A 15-year-old girl was reportedly struck, suffering facial injuries," the spokeswoman added.
"Officers attached to Central West Police District commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
"Following inquiries, a 14-year-old girl was dealt with under the Young Offenders Act."
Brianna says that at the time, police told her the offending 14-year-old would only receive a warning.
"I said to the police that they should have stronger powers than to just give her a warning. That's assault, that's not ok and it's discrimination," Brianna said.
"After she punched me, she grabbed her bag and walked away. Nobody helped me up, there was a big crowd and everyone was just looking and watching but nobody helped."
Brianna had been going to Orange High for less than a year when the incident occurred, and has been back just once since that day.
She said the school had tried to organise meetings to "discuss everything" - including her return to school - but that the meetings "never actually happen."
On August 12, Orange High shared a post on its Facebook account after several videos of the attack were circulated around TikTok and Facebook.
"Orange High School is aware (of) some disturbing activity that have occurred overnight on various social media platforms. Orange High School takes the safety and security of all our staff and students extremely seriously and we are working with Orange police and the Department of Education Safety and Security unit with this matter," the post read.
"Orange High School would like to thank the community for their support and concern and asks that any harmful use of social media is reported to the appropriate platform and to the E-Safety Commissioner via their website."
School principal Kristie Anderson also said that "the post from the school was made to encourage early reporting of inappropriate social media posts."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Despite this, the Facebook post was taken down that same day and as of publishing, no further post has been made regarding the incident.
"I like to think of myself as having a voice for other disabled people who don't," Brianna said when asked why she decided to speak out.
"(The school) have a duty of care and no matter how much they try and delete everything, people will still have the video. People are still going to have the pictures and everything.
"This is a very sensitive topic that they choose not to talk about because they don't want to be offensive, but in my opinion as a person with a disability, it's offensive not to talk about it because you're shutting it down."
A spokesman for the NSW Department of Education said that schools had "clear rules in place" around when emergency services need to be called and in this case "it was not required."
According to the Education Department's duty of care section under employee responsibilities, it states that "a duty of care is the legal obligation to provide reasonable care while performing any acts or making any omissions that could foreseeably harm others.
"The duty encompasses a wide range of matters, including (but not limited to) providing medical assistance (if competent to do so), or seeking assistance from a medically trained person to aid a student who is injured or becomes sick at school."
The Education Department spokesman added that Orange High School was "inclusive and does not tolerate any discrimination."
"It is not appropriate to share individual students' details in relation to discipline.
"The school continues to engage directly with the affected student and their family in order to support their return to school."