The father of a young boy who was stabbed in a school in Dublin thought he was "going to have to say goodbye" to his son.
The boy, 11, was stabbed in the back by a classmate at St. Finian’s National School and suffered serious, but non-life threatening, injuries.
The assailant, also 11 years old, will not face any criminal punishment as he is younger than the age of criminal responsibility in Ireland, 12 years old.
The boy’s father Stephen Geraghty has since opened up on the horrifying incident, saying that he thought his son was going to die from his injuries — with him adding that the injuries sustained in the incident could have been so much worse.
"About an hour after we arrived at the hospital, [the boy] was critical, and [his survival odds] were 50/50," Mr. Geraghty told Virgin Media News.
"I was asked to go in and comfort him — it’s very hard when you’re surrounded by 20-odd different nurses and doctors, stuff like that. I thought I was saying goodbye.
"His stab wound [was] to the middle of his back. It was a couple of centimetres away from a main artery… it could have been a lot worse."
As for how his son is doing now, a visibly emotional Mr. Geraghty said that his son is fighting and expected to pull through — but mentally, the incident has scarred them, including his son’s younger brother who was a witness to the incident.
Sources stressed to Extra.ie that both the assailant and victim are from "lovely families," with both sets of parents co-operating fully with Gardaí.
However, all are "devastated" by the incident, security sources said.
A source with knowledge of what happened said: "Obviously this is a very concerning incident for the parents of both children.
"But the young lad who was stabbed was attacked in the morning while the kids were outside for one of their lessons. He was stabbed from the back and he has suffered a punctured lung. This wasn’t a nick or a laceration, as we call it, it was a full-on stab."
"Luckily the injuries were not life-threatening but the child is in intensive care and obviously the parents are worried sick."
It is not the case that "a group of young boys were bullying the child for months and that the child lashed out," the Mail’s sources insisted. However, there may have been one or two incidents in the last couple of weeks that annoyed the attacker, they suggested. Pupils will receive professional help, with those who witnessed the attack lined up for specialist care.
"Everyone will be looked after," another source told the Mail.
"There will be multiple meetings as well as psychological help. Both sets of families are doing as well as they can but they’ve been incredibly helpful to the gardaí and others. It is where to go to next that is the main concern."
*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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