A teacher’s aide in Texas is calling for more safety measures after she broke her wrist while trying to avoid a chair thrown by a student. Carol Tidwell, 57, was working with a 5th and 6th-grade special education class at Collins Intermediate School on January 21 when an upset student threw a chair at her. Carol noticed the chair coming and warned the teacher, but she fell while trying to dodge it. The chair hit the floor and rolled toward her, causing her to trip and break her left wrist.
Carol’s husband drove her to the hospital, where doctors confirmed she had a fractured wrist. The Corsicana Independent School District stated that video footage showed Carol’s injury happened when she fell while trying to avoid the chair. Carol had only been working at the school for a few months.
After the incident, Carol called for the school district to take more action to protect staff and help the students. “These kids need to be helped. I don’t get paid to get hurt like this,” she said. Carol also stressed the importance of creating safer classrooms for everyone, especially those who are trying to support special needs students.
This isn’t the first time this school has had violent incidents. Back in August, an assistant principal at Collins Intermediate, Casandra Rogers, was seriously hurt in a similar attack. While trying to break up a fight between two 6th graders, a student threw a clothes hanger at her face, causing her to lose her right eye. Despite undergoing surgery and losing her sight, Casandra said she has forgiven the student, although she feels angry about the incident and the lack of safety measures for educators. “No educator should go to work and end up being airlifted to a hospital,” she said.
Carol was told she would receive workman’s compensation for her injury and that the district would address the ongoing issues at the school. She hopes that the district will take more action to prevent further incidents.