A school is ‘failing’ its pupils after several children keep hitting their heads – during stress related seizures.
Holly Wilson, 13, is one of at least two girls suffering non-epileptic fits which begin when some pupils feel they are under too much pressure.
Laura Wilson is now considering making her daughter wear a helmet at school and thinks teachers are not taking the issue seriously enough.
The seizures began in July and are a recognised issue across Britain despite some mums claiming their daughters have been accused of faking their faints.
Laura said: “My daughter’s safety is the priority, they should take it more seriously, especially when kids are hitting their head.
“I’m afraid I will receive a phone call one day saying she is dead because she hit her head.
“I haven’t ever experienced anything like this before. It’s like the plague.”
During a non-epileptic attack some people can lose control over their bladder, bite their tongue or hit their head and can last for several minutes.
At all girls school Prendergast Hilly Fields College, in Brockley, south east London, pupils are “dropping like flies”, mums say.
They are complaining that the school is turning a blind eye, despite as many as five girls apparently suffering fits during sports day in July.
A parent, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s been an issue for most of the year but there is a lot of ignorance for how the girls should be treated.
“My daughter was accused of faking her faints.
“There is a lot of avoidance and I wish and hope that they wake up one day and the problem no longer exists.
“There are girls in there dropping like flies.
“At sports day in July and there were four to five girls at any one time who had fainted. I feel their health and well-being was not considered.
“I knew it was a problem before sports day but there I saw that it was a real problem and they managed it really badly, they thought a lot of people were putting on the seizures.”
A charity spokesperson from non-epileptic attack disorder, NEAD UK, said: “In the same way that a computer may freeze if you open too many windows, the brain uses it as a way to shut down when it is overloaded.
“It is important to stress that the attacks are very real. The person having them is not faking and is not able to stop them.”
Lewisham Council, who manage the school, said: “Prendergast School works with parents to make sure the children are properly cared for in the school day.
“In a school of over 900 pupils there are a wide range of medical diagnoses and these are all covered by individual health care plans for each child.”
