Special education teacher seriously assaulted by a child in class was left without pay
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In the two years since Sophie Cole suffered a classroom assault that left her with the world’s most painful, incurable condition, she has undergone numerous, intense surgeries in a bid to get some relief.
The special education teacher from Carrigaline was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome, a chronic pain disorder with no known cure, after her left hand was slammed into a steel-reinforced table while at work.
“Nothing can touch off my hand, I will scream in agonizing pain,” she explained.
“It's excruciating pain that burns and shoots electric shocks. The way I’ve described the burning is like my hand ignites in flames, it's as if someone has put it into a burning fire and has a cheese grater rubbing vigorously over it and is grating away at the skin, the bone, everything.”
“I will look down at my hand numerous times to make sure there is still flesh on my hand because it feels as if it's burning off of me.”
Since 2022, she has undergone four nerve blocks, a platelet plasma infusion and internal nerve burning. She also tried a Qutenza patch which was “absolutely horrendous”.
“I had to be brought back to theatre after spending a night in the garden crying trying to cool my hand, they put my whole arm back to sleep.
She also had a spinal cord stimulator put in, a huge surgery that took place nine weeks before her wedding to husband Shane.
“For the first eight weeks I couldn’t move, bend, twist, turn. I had a huge allergic reaction to the spinal cord stimulator being turned on and spent about another two weeks in hospital because of that. It’s now off and still in me but I’ve started to have an allergic reaction to it even turned off.”
“My eyes are swollen, I’ve a rash. I just feel unwell so that’s going to have to be removed so they are scheduling surgery for that.”
She is currently meeting with a new consultant to discuss a dorsal ganglion stimulator, which is another form of a spinal cord stimulator. "There are huge risks with that, that I’d be allergic to that as well and it's another major surgery.”
Given the level of excruciating and daily pain she faces, she has discussed amputation with her doctors.
“It's still something that’s on the cards but there's a risk of the complex regional pain syndrome spreading and there’s a risk of phantom limb pain as well. We’re looking into stem cell treatment, that seems to be abroad mainly.”
One of the hardest aspects of chronic regional pain syndrome to deal with is that there is no known cure, she said.
“We’re looking into a lot of things. There is no known cure for complex regional pain syndrome which is probably the hardest thing because you are going through endless treatment, and everything is a risk. You’ve no safe bets.”
Sophie is now working to amend the current assault leave provisions available to those working in classrooms.
“It was bad enough to suffer a life-changing injury but it was all the parts that followed were just so heartbreaking,” she explained.
“I was left with no one to turn to, I didn’t understand assault leave, I didn’t understand illness benefit, I didn’t understand the social welfare system and I had no one to guide me through it.”
As an SET, she worked with children who experienced “quite substantial” different behaviours.
“It definitely wasn’t my first assault either," she said.
"So many of us have believed that it is part of the job and we’ve always taken it on the chin. That assault I suffered in November was just life-altering.”
“It totally flipped my perspective of it, I could see it from my husband’s view. I came home bruised on numerous occasions, and he would say ‘that’s not right, that’s not ok’ but I have such love for the children and such understanding of their behaviours.”
"The teams within the school are fantastic and anyone who could give you a hand would, but every special school has been crying for multi-disciplinary teams to be based in schools again; To have your psychologists, your speech and language therapists, your physios, your occupational therapists to be school-based, and it's a huge loss to not have those.”
“When I raised my concerns about behaviour in the classroom, we’d put support plans in place and you could call for support, but until that behaviour escalates and you are in that scenario where you require more help, the support isn’t there. When you are crying out for help, its too late.
“We were definitely understaffed, I was crying out for more SNAs in my classroom. There is a dire need across the board, I think every classroom across the country is crying out for more SNAs.
“There was a severe lack of staffing; Instances where I was on my own in the classroom, and that just wasn’t safe enough for me or the children or other staff members in the classroom.
“When my assault took place, my hand was slammed into a steel reinforced table. I had to call out for help. In that instance, I was on my own and I was just waiting for help to come.”
Although there is evidence to suggest many teachers and SNAs have been left with life-altering injuries from classroom assaults, Sophie believes many do not speak out.
“For so long I think it was a real taboo subject. Nobody really ever spoke out about this, it is because partly there’s this nearly kind of shame attached I think.
“People are embarrassed by it, people don’t want to be seen as causing a fuss, but the lack of support I received after my assault, it was the most isolating experience ever.”
“I had no idea of my entitlements. From what I knew, when my assault happened I was placed on assault leave and my understanding was that I would just remain on that until my doctors and consultants signed me back into work.”
However, after three months, her assault leave ended, without her knowing, and she was placed on sick leave. “Luckily I had never taken a sick leave day so I had all my sick leave to use but unbeknownst to me, I was using it.”
That was until she received a letter in the door, a “tick box” exercise from her school, saying she had used her full sick leave entitlement and that she would be losing her pay.
“I cried and cried with the fear. We didn’t know this was coming down the line.
The injury itself and the assault are one thing, but she still suffers from post traumatic stress disorder linked to the incident.
“I managed to sleep last night, which is huge, but I had such nightmares I was crying in my sleep, so the assault is one thing but it's the whole journey since it happened, the endless surgeries, the endless pain, the suffering for my friends and family watching me suffer and then the financial stress.”
“It's life-changing in itself to lose your wage, to lose your career, and then to have the stress and worry of paying your mortgage, paying for medical, going abroad for treatment, and even I’m going to need another surgery to have my spinal chord stimulator removed and Shane [husband] will have to take time off work to mind me, that’s another financial hit.”
“No one has yet sat down with me and really tried to make changes, or really fight for me or even alongside me.”
Sophie started to share her experience on her Instagram – special_education_muinteoir. “When it first happened me, I had thought there’s no way I’m the only person whose been left this seriously injured because I myself had experienced so many minor assaults in the classroom, like bites and hits.
"All of those, while they may seem minor, have such an impact on you when happening continuously. That lack of support that was there, I had reached out to my union and even at that, there was such little support.
"There was no putting you in contact with others or counselling, so I decided to make it public, not only to push for an amendment for assault leave when no one was listening but also to offer support to others because I knew I couldn’t be the only one out there.”
“The numbers are so substantial. I’ve 185 stories shared on Instagram of assaults — damage to short-term memory, broken backs, injuries resulting in the loss of an eye, partial facial paralysis and PTSD, all life-lasting injuries.
"None of those people will be able to return to work and they are all left without a wage and without any support from the department of education or the Government."
Sophie is currently highlighting the need to change assault leave to include an amendment that provides staff assaulted in classrooms with financial assistance to cover expenses relating to medical bills, therapy sessions and medication; assault leave for the duration of their medically certified leave and to establish “a comprehensive support system for educators who become victims of violence in the workplace, ensuring a swift and emphatic response to their needs.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of Education said the terms and conditions for assault leave were agreed with all education partners and “are in line with what is currently being applied across the public service”. “It is intended that the terms and conditions of the Scheme will be further discussed with all Education Partners in 2025.”
As of November, there were 14 employees on leave of absence following assault.
“Once the entitlement to this leave has been exhausted and the teacher [or] SNA remains medically unfit to return to work, the teacher [or] SNA can apply for the sick leave scheme.” The department does not collect data on the reason for sick leave absences.
Under section 24 of the Education Act 1998, the board of management is the employer of teachers and other staff of the school.
“The board’s role as an employer includes responsibility for the recruitment and dismissal of teachers and other staff within the school, subject to relevant department circulars, employment legislation and sectoral agreements. The role also includes, but is not limited to, health and safety, building, promoting and maintaining positive staff relations.”
In accordance with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, it is the responsibility of individual school authorities to have a safety statement in place in its school, she added.
“The safety statement should identify potential hazards, assess the risks to health and safety and put appropriate provision in place to safeguard the safety and health of employees and pupils.”