Tag Archives: Valerie Gillespie

Mother sues Eastern School board over injuries

Valerie Gillespie is suing school board for negligence when her son suffered permanent brain damage

Valerie Gillespie and her mother 300x280 Mother sues Eastern School board over injuries photo

Valerie Gillespie and her mother

CBC - A mother is suing P.E.I.’s Eastern School District over injuries she says her disabled son suffered at a Charlottetown school that left him permanently incapacitated.

Valerie Gillespie is seeking an unspecified amount of money for damages, including the cost of full-time caregivers.

Gillespie’s son, Brenton Organ, was a 15-year-old student at Birchwood Intermediate School. He suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy, which causes both physical and mental challenges.  Continue reading →

Facebook groups supports mother and boy in assault

Pat and the Elephant Driver pleads guilty to child abuse charges

pe gillespie family1 Facebook groups supports mother and boy in assault photo

Gillespie family gets support on Facebook

A Facebook group started two days ago in support of the mother and boy who was assaulted by a Pat and the Elephant driver has gained 80 + members.

Along with the comments on the CBC story, there is a lot of sympathy for the child and mother while some people are supporting the driver.

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CBC: assault should cost driver his job says mother

pe gillespie family CBC: assault should cost driver his job says mother photo

Gillespie family photo: submitted

A Charlottetown mother says a driver who works for a bus service for people with disabilities should be fired after he was convicted of assault last week

Editor – we removed the word “spit” from the headline of the story since it implies the assault was spitting which is misleading.

CBC Charlottetown – Pablo Szerman was charged last spring after one of his passengers spit on the bus door, and Szerman reacted by wiping the spit on the passenger’s face.

The passenger was Brenton Gillespie, 14, who has the mental capacity of a three-year old. His condition affects his balance and mobility. His family told CBC News he also finds it hard to swallow, so he’s always spitting.

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Paratransit driver convicted assaulting child with disability

Pat and the Elephant van Paratransit driver convicted assaulting child with disability photo

Pat and the Elephant paratransit service

A driver for paratransit service Pat and The Elephant has admitted to assaulting a 14 year old boy with a developmental disability during May of 2009.

PRLog

Pablo Victor Szerman plead guilty in Prince Edward Island Provincial Court on Tuesday September 29th, 2009 to assaulting the boy as he left the bus in May.

A paratransit bus is a minibus or van with wheelchair loading capacity which provides door-to-door transportation on demand of people with disabilities.

The boy, who is not identified due to his age, has a developmental and physical disability. He cannot control the amount of mucous that collects in his mouth and needs to spit from time to time. He attempted to clear his mouth while leaving the paratransit bus.

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