Sawyer Rosenstein, Bully victim awarded $4.2 million from school

Sawyer Rosenstein pictured here at the Space Shuttle's final launch in 2011 in Florida received a $4.2 million settlement from a New Jersey school district after being paralysed by a bully in 2006

Ramsey, N.J. -  A New Jersey school district has agreed to pay $4.2 million to settle a lawsuit by a middle school student, Sawyer Rosenstein, who was paralyzed when a known bully punched him in the abdomen.

Citing the attacker's prior record of violence, Rosenstein's lawsuit alleged school officials knew or should have known that the boy's attacker had violent tendencies and failed to comply with a state antibullying law, said the family's attorney, Jeffrey Youngman.

Three months before being punched, Rosenstein, then 12, e-mailed school officials to report he was being bullied and to ask for help.

"I would like to let you know that the bullying has increased," he wrote to his guidance counselor at the Eric Smith Middle School. "I would like to figure out some coping mechanisms to deal with these situations, and I would just like to put this on file so if something happens again, we can show that there was past bullying situations."

Rosenstein was punched in the abdomen at school on May 16, 2006, dropping him to his knees. When he came home that day, he complained of pain in his back but otherwise felt fine, his father, Joel Rosenstein, told the Record of Woodland Park.

Two days later, the seventh-grader let out a scream in his bedroom. "He hasn't walked since," his father said.

The blow had caused a clot in a major artery that supplies blood to his spine, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down from what his attorney described as an "incredibly rare" injury.

Both Youngman and the board said the settlement did not include any admission of liability or fault on the part of the district.

Sawyer Rosenstein, now an 18-year-old freshman majoring in communication at Syracuse University, told the Associated Press that he decided to talk about the case to let others who are bullied know that they can recover and to let would-be bullies know that violence can have serious consequences.

"I think I became something greater than I ever could have become without it," he said.

After he was paralyzed, he gave up his fledgling acting career and started attending a camp where he learned about space. He later started a space-oriented podcast and attended last year's final space shuttle launch with a media credential, which inspired him to study communication.

The Rosensteins also settled a claim against the boy who attacked their son. Youngman said the terms were confidential.