Daniel “Danny” Fitzpatrick committed suicide on Thursay, August 11, after being relentlessly bullied by a group of boys at school. Before taking his own life, Fitzpatrick left a heartbreaking letter detailing the bullying, and said no one made any effort to help him even when he told his teachers and the school administrators what was going on.
Daniel, of Staten Island, had been a student at Holy Angels Catholic Academy, and was due to start at Brooklyn’s Xaverian High School in the fall. Fitzpatrick said his old friends didn’t like him anymore, had stopped talking to him and had started bullying him.
“At first it was good lots of friends, good grades, great life,” he wrote. “I moved and went back but it was different. My old friends changed they didn’t talk to me they didn’t even like me.”
This suicide note from Daniel Fitzpatrick made me bawl. Bullying is one of the biggest problems in our school system pic.twitter.com/2iFqCFRNzd
— Sam || Mimi (@newkidnjh) August 13, 2016
“I gave up,” Fitzpatrick wrote in his suicide letter that his parents shared exclusively with the New York Daily News. “They did it constantly. I ended up fighting (one boy) and got a fractured pinkie.”
Although Daniel said there was one teacher who tried to help him cope with the bullying, it just wasn’t enough.
“The teachers either they didn’t do ANYTHING!” he wrote. “I told all the teachers. Nothing except one Ms. D’Alora. She was the nicest teacher ever she understood and did something but it didn’t last.”
According to Daniel’s parents, he was bullied by a group of five boys, who would particularly target him during gym class by throwing balls at him. He was also humiliated by one of his teachers when he referred to him as “lazy” in front of the entire class.
All “I gave up,” Daniel Fitzpatrick wrote in his suicide note https://t.co/8wh6l4LHCv ‘I Gave Up’: 13-Year-Old Boy… pic.twitter.com/TukUZhK6Gp
— cs (@mrata23) August 13, 2016
“If one person didn’t like you, no one liked you,” Fitzpatrick’s sister, Kristen, the youngest of his three older sisters, said. “Danny was always left out. He used to come up to me and ask me to get kids to play with him. The other kids would say they thought he was weird.”
Eventually, the bullying became too much for Daniel to bear, and he chose to end it by committing suicide. Kristen, 17, discovered his body hanging by a belt in the attic at their Davis Ave. home in West Brighton about 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Although she called for help, it was simply too late.
“My son shouldn’t have to die to be heard,” his mother, Maureen Fitzpatrick, said. “There’s something wrong with the adults in authority positions when kids can’t go to them for help. No parent is supposed to bury their child.”
Daniel Fitzpatrick’s Suicide Note: The Letter Left By Bullied Teen https://t.co/2v6VhMbeK4 pic.twitter.com/G41HsCiONI
— Jose Antonio (@josezantos1) August 13, 2016
“In light of this tragedy we are reexamining all bullying prevention policies and training,” spokeswoman for the Brooklyn/Queens Diocese Carolyn Erstad said. “The principal, teachers, and staff of Holy Angels Catholic Academy are heartbroken over the loss of Danny Fitzpatrick. We take the issue of bullying very seriously and address every incident that is brought to our attention.”
Maureen said she believes the school avoided Daniel’s bullying complaints, and simply tried to sweep them under the rug, so to speak.
“My son is not supposed to be dead,” she said through tears. “My son is supposed to be playing football. My son is supposed to be home with his family.”
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Eileen Fitzpatrick, Daniel’s oldest sister, created a GoFundMe page to help raise funds to provide her brother with a proper memorial. The campaign’s goal was set at $10,000, but in just one day, that goal has been surpassed with a total of $43,895 raised by 860 people.
“My brother was thirteen years old, he did not have life insurance, because he wasnt supposed to die,” Eileen wrote. “This was a very unexpected tragedy for my family and we were not prepared for it.”
Do you think the school should be held responsible for Daniel’s suicide? Leave your comments below.
[Photo via Shutterstock]