Boy Hospitalized After Standing Up To Friend's Bullies, Reports Say

OLYMPIA, Wash. (CBS Local) - A six-year-old in Washington state was hospitalized with a broken arm and badly injured eye after he was reportedly attacked by a group of children bullying his friend.

Carter English was outside his Olympia apartment complex on Aug. 22 when he confronted a group of children who allegedly picked on his friend.

"They were just bullying him, like beating him up," Carter said, via KCCI. "I just told them to stop... and then they did it to me."

A five-year-old and other children allegedly beat Carter with rocks, sticks, and rubbed sawdust into his eyes. He ended up with a lacerated eye, several cuts and bruises across his head. His broken right arm and eye may require surgery.

"It's been hell," Carter English's mother, Dana said after the two left a Seattle hospital on Aug. 24. "I haven't slept. I haven't eaten. I can't do anything. I can't even leave his side."

Police in Washington have reportedly identified the five-year-old who allegedly started the attack and are getting social services involved. Due to the age of Carter's bullies, the case will not result in a criminal referral for the children.

"Bullying is not OK. There's no reason to bully someone ever," the victim's mother tearfully told reporters. A GoFundMe page set up to help pay for Carter's medical expenses claims that as many as seven children were involved in the assault on the six-year-old.

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