12-Year-Old in Critical Condition After School Choking Incident in Dijon

A choking game that almost turned into a tragedy at the Champollion college in Dijon on Tuesday, February 11. "The school calls us saying that our son has been very hurt in a fall, that he has lost two front teeth and that the ambulance has been called," recounts the victim’s mother, Hakim. According to her explanations, only the principal of the school was able to tell her the sequence of events after consulting the surveillance cameras of the establishment. "She tells us that a 15-year-old student strangled a first child from behind, released him quickly, then did the same with Hakim. Except that my son turned blue and lost consciousness," the mother of the student still emphasizes.

The emergency services were unable to perform a general anesthesia on Hakim and take care of him due to this loss of consciousness, possible neurological sequelae. His teeth are put back in place and 14 stitches are applied to him after a local anesthesia. "He was screaming with all his might, it was horrible to see him like that, but I had to hold him, I had no choice," the teenager’s mother recalls. After the incident, Hakim is unable to express himself properly or eat properly. "He can’t eat, only cold soup and compote that I give him with a syringe, it’s very difficult and it’s likely to last," the mother adds. According to her, "this is not a game, this is an attempted murder!". She plans to file a complaint.

After the file was transmitted to the Dijon public prosecutor, an investigation was opened on the basis of "a report under Article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure," says France 3 Régions. On the school side, disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against the aggressor who "admitted the facts," the Dijon academy points out to the same media.