Transgender teen Jayden Tkaczyk said he was punched, kicked, and stomped on by a large group of high schoolers while attending an outdoor party in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
The 16 year old said he was chased into the woods Friday night by 20 to 30 people after coming to the party to see a few friends.
“One second, I was having fun, the next second, I was on the ground getting my face stomped and beat up,” he told NBC News. “They were just saying the F slur over and over and over as they were punching me and stomping me.”
Tkaczyk managed to get escape and ran deeper into the woods, where he called 911. He was picked up and taken to a local hospital. He is recovering from a broken bone under his right eye and bruises and scratches all over his body, according to The Associated Press.
“I was scared, but I thought to myself that if I escape and I get out, that things will eventually get better,” Tkaczyk told AP. “As I was getting hit, it was terrifying. I thought I was going to die, but I tried to keep a positive mindset.”
Tkaczyk and his mother, Jasmine, say the attack was clearly targeted, and he had been bullied by his attackers “for years”.
“Over 11 years, I’ve been getting bullied,” he said, adding that the school district has done nothing to address his previous reports. “… It’s been a terrible and hard struggle for me, and I don’t open up to anybody about how really bad it is.”
“This was my worst fear for Jayden. This is been my biggest fear for him as a mom of a transgender kid,” Jasmine said. “Getting that phone call was one of the most terrifying things to experience. Having to go to the hospital to see him in that condition. When I got that call, I was just praying that he was alive.”
Tkaczyk, a junior at Topsfield Vocational Academy, said many of the attackers are on the Gloucester High School football team, where he briefly played during his sophomore year.
“I played on it for about a week or two before I had to quit because of the threats they were making towards me,” he said.
Gloucester Police have not designated the attack as a hate crime, but have brought in a specialist in hate crimes to assist in the investigation. No arrests have been made.
