An autistic boy in the UK was forced onto life support after a group of older bullies gave him a drink containing a concoction of gin and what is suspected to be bleach.
Twelve-year-old Ronnie Phillips snuck out of his West Sussex home with his 11 year-old-brother, Jimmy, while their mother was sleeping on Friday night (local time).
The brothers went to meet up with a group of older kids who gave Ronnie a drink believed to contain gin, the Daily Mail reports. The boy's mother Danielle Potter said it's still unconfirmed as to what was mixed with the gin but the family believes it could have been bleach.
After consuming the drink Ronnie collapsed and the group of older kids made a run for it.
Jimmy stayed by Ronnie's side, thinking he was dead until the pair were discovered by a woman who called emergency services.
Emergency services rushed Ronnie to St George's Hospital in south London which is where he was put into an induced coma, and fought for his life.
Potter said the group of bullies were out all night and were found by police the following morning.
In a post to Facebook, Potter warned parents of the dangers of children drinking: "Everyone thinks it won't happen to me, but here's proof that actually it could happen and go horribly wrong.
"What my 12-year-old thought would be a laugh and a bit of fun with his mates has resulted in him in a coma, a breathing machine for him, and in the ICU ward at London."
Ronnie has since been taken off life support and his grandmother Tracey Wilmour has launched a GoFundMe page that has so far received NZ$3394 in donations.
In the page description, Wilmour said Ronnie is now awake and "can't understand why no one likes him and would do this to him when he thought they were his friends".
Through the fundraiser, Wilmour hopes to show Ronnie that people care.
"I want to show him that people do care and are not all nasty."
