Mary Stegall, a student at Benjamin Bannekar High School, has Cerebral Palsy and has to walk with either a walker or a wheelchair.
She said she was doing just that back in December of 2010 when she was thrown from the school bus ramp while trying to get on using her walker. Her mother, Ellen Stegall, said she doesn't understand why a school bus worker didn't look after her more carefully.
"Her walker, her back hind legs was on the outside, which I still don't understand why he couldn't just take the proper time to walk around and say ‘Hey, your walker's not secure, let me secure it,'" Ellen Stegall said.
She said the accident caused Mary's front tooth to chip and left a deep cut in her lip and bruises all over Mary's face. Ellen Stegall said her daughter also will not use her walker any more after the accident.
"My child is suffering," Ellen Stegall said. "When she bites down and eats something – she can't, even the stuff that she really likes to eat because she says it hurts."
The Stegall family claimed they were told by a Fulton County Schools employee that the district would pay for Mary's medical bills, which are several thousands of dollars. But Ellen Stegall said that Fulton County Schools have not paid the family a penny in the year and a half since the accident.
Samantha Evans, a spokeswoman for Fulton County Schools, said the district is taking care of the matter.
"We are going to handle this matter and to go above and beyond our obligation," Evans said. "Safety is of utmost importance to the school district."
On Friday, after CBS Atlanta ran the Stegall family's story, Fulton County Schools did make an offer to the family.
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