The Girl Nobody Wants: A Shocking True Story of Child Abuse in Ireland by Lily O'Brien Page B
Authors: Lily O'Brien
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about what had happened at lunchtime and I wished that I hadn’t shouted at Simon to run across the road, but I had and it was too late to change anything.
I cried all the way home and I was wishing that Simon would be at the door when we got back, but he wasn’t. I walked into the house and I asked one of the staff if Simon was dead, and she looked down at me and she said, ‘No, he’s alive and he’s in the hospital.’ I was so happy, ‘I want to see him’, I said. ‘No’, she said. ‘It’s entirely your fault that he’s in the hospital’, and then she began to hit me around my head. Then Sister Ann came into the room and she told the member of staff to go out of the room. ‘I’m in trouble’, she said. ‘It’s all your fault that Simon got run over and now I have to explain what happened to the school governors. Now go to bed as I can’t stick your crying all the time.’
Sister Ann called the staff back into the room and she told her to get me out of the room and to put me to bed. I walked out of the room and up the stairs to my bedroom and it felt like forever walking up the stairs on my own, and I kept turning around to see if Simon was behind me, but he wasn’t. I walked into my bedroom and Karen and Jenny were sitting on one of the beds, waiting for me. I told them both about the accident at lunchtime and then they told me that the nuns had told them that Simon was still alive and that one of the nuns and a priest had gone to the hospital to see him. They said that he had broken his arm and he had hit his head on the road, but he was going to be ok. I was so relieved, I sat on my bed and I put my head down onto my lap. I was so happy, but also very sad because he was all alone again and I couldn’t help him and I began to cry. It would be six weeks before Simon was able to come home from the hospital and in all that time the nuns never allowed us to go and see him and no one ever told us if he was ok or not.
And for the whole six weeks, Sister Ann and the staff told me that I was an evil little girl and that it should have been me that got run over and squashed that day and not Simon. They all made me feel very sad and my sisters tried to stick up for me; but if they said anything to the nuns, they would slap them around their heads with a wooden spoon, and then they would make them miss their dinner to teach them a lesson for butting in and getting involved.
When Simon finally came home, we all ran over to him and we began to examine him; he still had stitches in his head and mouth, a plaster cast on his arm and, in his hand, he had a container full of little stitches that a nurse had removed from a big scar on his leg. He looked broken and his hair had been cut short so that the doctors could drain fluid from his skull, after his head had hit the road. We all surrounded him, giving him kisses, and we told him that we loved him and that we were very sorry for what had happened to him. He just laughed and he said that he was ok, and we spent the rest of the day playing with him and giving him things that we had found around the house and school; ‘little secrets’ we called them, most of the stuff was rubbish, but to us it meant a lot because it was all we had.
CHAPTER 5
The Holidays without Fun
Months passed and eventually I settled down in the house; then one morning, Sister Ann told me that it was going to be the end of school term soon and that all the children in the house, including me, would be going away for the summer holidays. She said that some people were going to come to the house and take all of the children away for the six-week holidays and that we must all be good with the people and behave ourselves, while staying with them in their homes.
I was very excited at the thought of going on holiday as I had never been on holiday before, but we had only been at the house a few months, so the nuns didn’t want to split us up. But they had a lot of trouble finding a
I cried all the way home and I was wishing that Simon would be at the door when we got back, but he wasn’t. I walked into the house and I asked one of the staff if Simon was dead, and she looked down at me and she said, ‘No, he’s alive and he’s in the hospital.’ I was so happy, ‘I want to see him’, I said. ‘No’, she said. ‘It’s entirely your fault that he’s in the hospital’, and then she began to hit me around my head. Then Sister Ann came into the room and she told the member of staff to go out of the room. ‘I’m in trouble’, she said. ‘It’s all your fault that Simon got run over and now I have to explain what happened to the school governors. Now go to bed as I can’t stick your crying all the time.’
Sister Ann called the staff back into the room and she told her to get me out of the room and to put me to bed. I walked out of the room and up the stairs to my bedroom and it felt like forever walking up the stairs on my own, and I kept turning around to see if Simon was behind me, but he wasn’t. I walked into my bedroom and Karen and Jenny were sitting on one of the beds, waiting for me. I told them both about the accident at lunchtime and then they told me that the nuns had told them that Simon was still alive and that one of the nuns and a priest had gone to the hospital to see him. They said that he had broken his arm and he had hit his head on the road, but he was going to be ok. I was so relieved, I sat on my bed and I put my head down onto my lap. I was so happy, but also very sad because he was all alone again and I couldn’t help him and I began to cry. It would be six weeks before Simon was able to come home from the hospital and in all that time the nuns never allowed us to go and see him and no one ever told us if he was ok or not.
And for the whole six weeks, Sister Ann and the staff told me that I was an evil little girl and that it should have been me that got run over and squashed that day and not Simon. They all made me feel very sad and my sisters tried to stick up for me; but if they said anything to the nuns, they would slap them around their heads with a wooden spoon, and then they would make them miss their dinner to teach them a lesson for butting in and getting involved.
When Simon finally came home, we all ran over to him and we began to examine him; he still had stitches in his head and mouth, a plaster cast on his arm and, in his hand, he had a container full of little stitches that a nurse had removed from a big scar on his leg. He looked broken and his hair had been cut short so that the doctors could drain fluid from his skull, after his head had hit the road. We all surrounded him, giving him kisses, and we told him that we loved him and that we were very sorry for what had happened to him. He just laughed and he said that he was ok, and we spent the rest of the day playing with him and giving him things that we had found around the house and school; ‘little secrets’ we called them, most of the stuff was rubbish, but to us it meant a lot because it was all we had.
CHAPTER 5
The Holidays without Fun
Months passed and eventually I settled down in the house; then one morning, Sister Ann told me that it was going to be the end of school term soon and that all the children in the house, including me, would be going away for the summer holidays. She said that some people were going to come to the house and take all of the children away for the six-week holidays and that we must all be good with the people and behave ourselves, while staying with them in their homes.
I was very excited at the thought of going on holiday as I had never been on holiday before, but we had only been at the house a few months, so the nuns didn’t want to split us up. But they had a lot of trouble finding a
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