Sydney teenager has brain surgery after being bashed at school

FIRST ON 7: A Sydney teenager has had to undergo brain surgery after being bashed by a fellow student while at school.

Josh Lawrie, 15, suffered a brain aneurysm after he was punched in the back of the head by another student at St Dominic's Catholic College in Kingswood last week.

"I just remember falling over face first because he hit me from behind," Josh told 7 News.

Even after he was knocked out his attacker continued to deal more blows to his face.

"The next thing I remember is me and my mates in the bathroom washing my face off."

Instead of calling an ambulance, school staff called his mother Lynda Lawrie who took her son to Nepean Hospital's emergency ward.

"The first thing the triage nurse and the doctor asked was why was this child not conveyed to hospital in an ambulance? Why did you bring him here yourself?" she told 7 News.

It was a CT scan that uncovered Josh's brain injury.

"They ascertained that it was actually from the trauma and that he could have a brain bleed," Ms Lawrie said.

Josh was then transferred to Randwick for surgery and was discharged from intensive care overnight.

Doctors have told Josh that he will have to give up sport because of his brain injury and will also be on blood thinning medication for the rest of his life.

Josh's alleged attacker is believed to have been suspended from the school and spoken to by police.

The school has yet to comment officially, but says there are two sides to the story.

MEDIA STATEMENT - ST DOMINIC'S COLLEGE

''St Dominic's College is currently investigating an incident which occurred at the College last week.

As soon as we learned of the matter, our immediate priority was to ensure the student's safety and fully investigate the incident. Student safety is our highest priority and we are vigilant about the well-being and safety of all our students.

The investigation is being conducted in close consultation with the students and parents involved. We have also been fully cooperating with police.

First-aid was administered at the school when the injured student walked unaided from the incident site to report the matter to a staff member who immediately walked the student to the College's First aid room. The police and the student's parent attended at this time.

As this is an ongoing police investigation, it would not be appropriate to provide further details at this time.

We do not condone violence of any kind. It is not in keeping with the College's values or expectations of its students.

We take student health and safety extremely seriously and are committed to working with teachers and parents to maintain a safe environment where students are free to focus on learning.''