‘It should’ve never happened’: Father of student hospitalized after fight speaks out

JESUP, Ga. (WSAV) – A young boy who’s been fighting all his life is now facing an even tougher battle after an incident at Wayne County High School that left him severely injured.

His father says it was preventable.

Wyitt was diagnosed at a young age with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that affects lung function and the digestive system.

“The doctor called me and told me my son would never run, play, ride a bicycle, nothing, because he wouldn’t be able to breathe. He told me I’d bury him before he was 8,” said Phillip Brooker, the 15-year-old’s father. “He’s surpassed all that by a long shot. He rides his bike. He plays football. He does whatever he wants to do.”

Wyitt is in ninth grade, now in his first year at Wayne County High School.

His dad says Wyitt has always been smaller than most kids because of his condition, but his “never say never” attitude has propelled him through life.

Last week, however, Brooker got a call that he said took his breath away.

“No man wants to get a call like that and think his son might be dead,” Brooker said.

He said Wyitt suffered severe head trauma after another student assaulted him in the hallway, throwing him to the ground and smashing his skull.

“He got cut all the way from here to here to do his brain surgery,” Brooker explained. “He’s got two plates in his head. He had seven hematomas and a bad brain aneurism that also butchered a main artery in the frontal lobe, and that’s what was the biggest problem.”

There is a video of the incident that Brooker shared with News 3, but he said he didn’t want it published to spare his wife and daughters from seeing it.

Brooker pointed out in the video that the school’s principal was present from the time the fight began and only intervened after his son had been thrown to the ground.

“It should’ve never happened,” Brooker said. “They knew about this first thing that morning. It had been brought to the teacher’s attention. It had been brought to the principal’s attention. The principal is 3 feet away from it literally, maybe 5.”

WSAV reached out to the Wayne County school board when this incident first happened and personally visited the superintendent’s office Monday.

Both attempts were met with no response.

The Wayne County community is certainly responding. Brooker’s Facebook posts about the incident have garnered thousands of views and comments.

“I probably had 20,000 people message me since last Tuesday,” Brooker said. “It’s not just about my son at this point. With all the stories that I have, it’s about everybody else’s children that have been let down, too.”

Brooker tells News 3 he hopes that his son’s injuries will put a stop to what he believes are ongoing problems in the school system.

In the meantime, he is thankful Wyitt is beginning to recover.

Brooker says the school district is in the process of pressing charges on the student who assaulted his son.