Daniel Fitzpatrick
Daniel Fitzpatrick
Daniel Joesph Fitzpatrick was a 13 year old boy from Staten Island, New York.
Daniel attended Holy Angels Catholic Academy in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Daniel planned on attending Brooklyn’s Xaverian High School in September, 2016. He lived with his family in the West New Brighton area of Staten Island.
Death
On August 11, 2016 Daniel Fitzpatrick committed suicide after being bullied relentlessly at Holy Angels Catholic Academy. He was found at 5:30 p.m by his older sister in the attic of his family home, hanging in the attic with a belt wrapped around his neck. Daniel was discovered hanging in the attic inside his family’s Davis Ave. home in West Brighton about 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Before he took his own life Daniel wrote a letter about how no one in the school would help him, as he was being bullied.
Students bullied Daniel over his weight, grades and an innocent heart.
He had spoken to teachers and administrators at the school about the bullying however they refused to intervene.
He said that only one of the teachers at the school tried to help him.
Although the school did not help to stop Daniel from being the bullied the school sent social workers investigate the family.
Daniel’s parents voluntarily submitted to substance testing and passed, they said.
Daniel's parents said that boys would bully him during gym class, often throwing balls at him.
A teacher also embarrassed Daniel by calling him “lazy” in front of the class, the boy’s father alleged.
Kristen, the youngest of Daniel’s three older sisters, also attended Holy Angels Catholic Academy and said the teacher was known for humiliating students. She had said that "He would hold up tests and papers at school dismissal, publicly displaying students’ scores to embarrass those who did poorly. She also said that the school was known for the social cliques that formed in the small classes.
“If one person didn’t like you, no one liked you,” she said.
“Danny was always left out.
He used to come up to me and ask me to get kids to play with him.
The other kids would say they thought he was weird.”
His mother Maureen said “He just wanted to be a kid,” and that "He didn’t want to be involved in things that were too mature for him.”
Maureen Fitzpatrick had said “Danny said that he was afraid of his teachers,” and that “He felt like the whole school knew what was going on and was laughing behind his back.
They humiliated him.”
Maureen believed the school tried to sweep the bullying under the rug to “preserve their image.”
“My son is not supposed to be dead,” she said, choking back tears Friday.
“My son is supposed to be playing football.
My son is supposed to be home with his family.”
Daniel's dad had said when he tried to enroll his son in the school to repeat the seventh grade the school refused to accept his deposit saying that the school was not a "good environment for him".
The family considered this an insult as they believe Daniel’s bullying at the hands of classmates caused his grades to fall.
Daneil's family remembered him as a sensitive softie who covered his eyes and ears during the superhero action movie "Dead Pool".
A Go Fund Me page was created to raise money for Daniel's funeral. Their target was initially $10,000 but the world surprised them and they stopped donations from coming in after they reached $127,949 which was raised by 3,948 people in only 9 days. The funeral was on 17th August and there are now plans, with the rest of the money they made, to open a non profit company in Danny's name to help them raise awareness of the issues with bullying and potential suicide.
A new law is also being campaigned for on change.org that they hope will strip teachers and administrators of their licences if they fail to help a bullied child.