Ukrainian teen choked by classmate at Maple Ridge school

A family that recently moved to B.C. from Ukraine is shaken after they say their 14-year-old son was attacked at his Maple Ridge school.

Oleksii Tsyganov says on Monday, his son was choked from behind by a classmate at Maple Ridge Secondary, causing him to lose consciousness.

“Probably my son has some problems with his head because he fell and he had some pain here on the back of his head,” the father said.

Oleksii Tsyganov, speaking with CityNews during a visit to Ukraine, says his 14-year-old son was choked from behind by a classmate at Maple Ridge Secondary School on Monday. (CityNews Image)

He tells CityNews the school called his wife to tell her about the incident and that she needed to take the child to the hospital, which she did.

However, Tsyganov says he’s disappointed the school didn’t call emergency services, given his son lost consciousness.

“Of course he’s scared. He doesn’t want to visit school at this moment and he stays at home,” Tsyganov said of his son.

The father says the family has filed a police report with the Ridge Meadows RCMP. Mounties tell CityNews they are investigating.

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In a statement, the school district confirms the incident, writing to CityNews, “We can only imagine how frightening this must have been for the student … and we are sincerely sorry.”

“We understand that the school has been in contact with the student’s family and that they will be having conversations about how to support his return to school,” the Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows School District said.

“We also understand that a police report has been filed and that the RCMP have opened an investigation. The school and the school district will support both this investigation and any outcomes. Once the RCMP have completed their work, the district does have its own risk assessment policies and protocols that will guide our response.”

Tsyganov, however, says he doesn’t feel like the school has done enough.

“I just want to understand what they are going to do. What are the steps (that) should be taken in such a situation? How they are going to prevent this situation in the future?” he asked.

He adds he and his wife are considering moving their son to a different school.

“I just want to be sure [the] school where my son goes is really safe and it won’t happen again,” Tsyganov said.