Mum of stabbed schoolgirl was abroad and 'terrified'

The parents of a teenage girl who was stabbed at school have described their desperation as the situation unfolded, with her mother overseas and her father unable to get a phone signal.

The 15-year-old girl is recovering after being stabbed in the back by another pupil at Thorpe St Andrew School near Norwich on 11 March.

Pupils were told to switch off their phones and hide under desks as the school was placed under lockdown in response to the incident, and armed officers arrived at the scene.

"It's been a mix of emotions – a rollercoaster. Terrifying, grateful, very up and down," her mother told the BBC.

"I was abroad when I got the call. I had to get home as soon as possible.

"Words can't express how you feel. You wish you just had superpowers to get home.

"At first, I wasn't really aware of whether my daughter was stable enough. I wasn't getting the answers I should have.

"I understand everything was difficult, but not knowing how badly she had been attacked, whether or not she was still safe – or the other children – it was mind boggling, horrible."

Her daughter was taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries and was discharged by the following day.

A boy, also aged 15, has since been charged with attempted murder.

The girl's father said he was "working somewhere that had zero signal" when news began to filter through.

"Luckily I managed to get a little bit of signal and my phone went crazy with loads of messages coming in.

"I managed to get through to my daughter and she explained, and my friend helped me get to the hospital and get to her as soon as I could."

Both parents said they felt greatly supported by the school and their local community.

"It's been overwhelming, we've had no end of messages, gifts, flowers, hampers," her mum said.

"It's been really, really eye opening, to see how the community can work together and show their support and love.

"One of the teachers actually went in the ambulance and has been really supportive. We can't thank them enough."

The girl's dad said that although "the school has done everything they can to help", he did not "feel comfortable with her going back full time" yet.

"She's got to be drip fed back into society. It's a massive ordeal she's been through," he said.

"She's getting there, she will get there because she's very strong – but that will take time."

He took her to watch a sports match on Saturday "because she wanted to go".

"All the girls ran over and celebrated with her, the support has been unbelievable.

"It's given her a confidence boost, being backed by so many people."

In a statement released last week, the school praised the reaction from staff and students during the lockdown.

"We understand how worrying this event was for families and want to thank our students who coped so well," said Owen Jenkins, chief executive officer at the Broad Horizons Education Trust which runs the school.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was remanded in youth custody on Thursday and is due to appear at Norwich Crown Court on 10 April.

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