A teacher brought real swords to her classroom and encouraged her students to use them resulting in one teen having the nerves in her right hand permanently severed.

Loviata Mitchell, 45, a now former chemistry teacher at Volcano Vista High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, used a samurai katana sword and a rapier to teach a lesson on “metal and melding.” She reportedly allowed her students to fight with them with no protective gear or blade guards according to the Daily Mail.

Mitchell moved the desks to the perimeter of the classroom to make way for the two-minute dueling bouts. The contests were videoed.

One duel resulted in a 16-year-old girl, identified as NS, having her nerves and tendons severed in her right hand.

(Video Credit: KOAT)

The teacher exclaimed, “I’m in trouble!” and told her students to delete all of their videos following the predictable accident. One of them evidently didn’t and it wound up in the hands of authorities.

The girl’s grandparents, Arnold and Judy Gachupin, who are her guardians, are suing over the incident.

“A school investigation concluded that Mitchell broke no rules, but now, she and the school district are being sued by the 16-year-old’s family after surgery was unable to repair the damage,” the Daily Mail reported.

“I’ve talked to her surgeon, and he could actually feel where the sword had made a mark in the bone,” the family’s attorney Jessica Hernandez said in an interview with KOAT.

“Those injuries cause her ongoing daily pain, as well as cause her to be unable to perform many basic daily tasks,” Hernandez went on to assert, noting that the girl is right-handed.

According to the lawsuit, the teacher told her students before the duels, “I’ve got a surprise for you,” as she began the lesson in May 2022.

Nothing says lawsuit like having kids duel in class with swords and getting sliced. Who knew that was possible?

New Mexico teacher had students duel with swords in class, leading to serious injury of teen girl, lawsuit says
The girl, then 16, “suffered a large and deep… pic.twitter.com/BXtR7uEqRu

— floridanow1 (@floridanow1) February 29, 2024

In the video being used in court, Mitchell can be seen leaning on a sink smiling as two boys clashed with razor-sharp swords. The boys appeared to be unharmed after the two-minute bout.

However, seconds later, when the girl took her turn in the classroom arena with her opponent identified as “DM” in court documents, things went horribly wrong.

“DM struck NS across her right forearm, wrist, and hand with the katana-style sword,” court records indicate. “NS suffered a large and deep laceration across her right hand and wrist that is inconsistent with a ‘prop’ sword.”

The teacher allegedly told her students not to report how the girl was injured. She then attempted to call the school health office but “could not figure out how to do so.”

Can we just get back to reading writing and arithmetic? Geez….

— DoneDealDon (@donedealdon) February 29, 2024

“As NS began to feel nauseous and weak from blood loss, another student ran to the VVHS health office for medical assistance,” court documents recounted.

The injured student was not allowed to call her family for 20 minutes according to the Daily Mail. It was another ten minutes before a school health assistant finally called 911. The teen was taken to an emergency room by EMS.

“It is shocking that this little girl is bleeding in a classroom and paramedics are not called for 30 minutes,” Hernandez claimed. “So those are also procedures that Albuquerque Public Schools needs to address to make sure that first, this doesn’t happen.”

“But if a student is injured, what are you going to do about it immediately to make sure they get the care that they need?” the attorney asked.

Kids can’t bring a butter knife to school, how does a teacher bring two swords?

— Nater (@gater94631) February 29, 2024

Following the school’s investigation clearing Mitchell of wrongdoing, Assistant Principal Manuel Algaza is also being sued.

“In response to the report’s question, ‘Did the injury violate school rules?’ Mr. Alzaga checked a box indicating ‘No,'” the lawsuit charges.

The teen underwent a series of operations. She is also taking part in physical therapy and mental health counseling. Her mobility concerning minor tasks has been directly affected.

“Despite this surgical repair of NS’s nerves and tendons, it was not possible to fully repair them, and they remain damaged,” Hernandez stated. “As a result, her wrist and hand are permanently injured. Those injuries cause her ongoing daily pain, as well as cause her to be unable to perform many basic daily tasks.”

Next level stupid

— Sam Sarsam (@SamSarsam1) February 29, 2024

“As a 16-year-old, when you get hurt like this, and all of a sudden you can’t do the same things that you used to do — it’s really discouraging. It’s depressing. It’s isolating,” the attorney declared.

According to a school district spokesman, Mitchell was fired two months after the incident but he would not state whether it was in connection to the accident or not.

“Not only did this teacher and APS not protect this child, but they actively put her in harm’s way, actively created this danger, and put deadly weapons right into these student’s hands,” Hernandez told KOAT. “Exactly what could reasonably be anticipated is what happened.”

“If I’m a parent, and I take my kid to school, I think they will be safe. I think the teachers are going to protect them, and here absolutely the opposite happened,” the attorney concluded.

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.