Weeks of not knowing the full story of what caused the severe injuries of freshman football player August Borden have led to protests outside of Deshler High School.
WAFF48 reported that protesters have been picketing in front of the school all week, calling for "accountability" and "justice" for August Borden, a 15-year-old student who sustained major head trauma while walking to practice on August 19.
Borden was found non-responsive on a set of stairs with multiple injuries and was life-flighted to UAB after being resuscitated by EMS. Borden's parents were initially told another student was responsible, but school officials later told police it was due to an accidental fall.
Nikke Vaughn, a mother from Florence, started protesting last week with a sign reading, "Take accountability, #Justice for August."
She has been encouraging more people to join her call for transparency.
"August should be enjoying his FRESHMAN year of high school. His life is now ruined because of ALL OF THE ONES INVOLVED," she stated in a Facebook post Monday. "How can you sleep at night knowing you attempted to kill a teammate? I hope this eats everyone to their core, I pray you all lose sleep over what you did to August. I will be out front of DESHLER HIGH SCHOOL this week from 7am-8am if anybody is interested in standing beside me while I (we) fight on the front lines for August and his family. THIS IS PEACEFULLY PROTESTING!!!!! Right is Right and Wrong is Wrong."
During a meeting on Monday, the Tuscumbia City Schools Board of Education briefly addressed the situation publicly for the first time in weeks, stating that it was taking the matter seriously and would hire an outside attorney to investigate the incident, including the school's response.
"August is still here with us, thank God," Vaughn told WAFF. "He can't be out here, but I can. I want to do whatever I can to bring awareness and stand on the front lines. This family cannot because they're at home taking care of August, when he should be out there on that football field right now, practicing with his teammates."
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