Classroom sword fight ‘organised by teacher leaves teen with severed nerves after arm was slashed by katana blade’

The 16-year-old was left with severed nerves after she engaged in the classroom showdown while the adult egged her on from the sidelines, according to a new lawsuit, reported The Sun.

The student, only identified as “NS” in legal papers, was left with long-term injuries by the alarming duel that happened in New Mexico in May 2022.

The gory battle commenced after a teacher at Volcano Vista High School, in the city of Albuquerque, provided both teenagers katana and rapier-style swords, the complaint reported by US TV network NBC News stated.

Ex-chemistry teacher Loviata Mitchell allegedly had pupils set up desks to form a makeshift ring and selected pairs of students to fight each other for a minute or two.

The lawsuit alleges: “DM struck NS across her right forearm, wrist, and hand with the katana-style sword.”

It adds: “NS suffered a large and deep laceration across her right hand and wrist that is inconsistent with a ‘prop’ sword”.

A katana blade is a replica Japanese samurai sword and can be up to 81cm long.

It quickly became clear the youngster was in agony, leading the panicked teacher to allegedly shout “I’m in trouble,” as she ordered other students to delete any videos they had taken, the lawsuit states.

But footage shows two sword-wielding boys jostling with desks surrounding them while a timer on a large projection screen counts down to the next battle, according to Albuquerque TV station KRQE.

The student’s grandfather was called 20 minutes after the injury, and emergency services wasn’t called until 30 minutes after, according to the lawsuit.

The girl underwent surgeries, physical therapy and sought mental health counselling and now finds simple tasks a challenge, the lawsuit reads.

Her lawyer wrote: “Her wrist and hand are permanently injured”.

“Those injuries cause her ongoing daily pain, as well as cause her to be unable to perform many basic daily tasks.”

An assistant principal, Manuel Alzaga, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit after she allegedly wrote in a school report that the student suffered the laceration during a “lesson on metal and melding”.

“In response to the report’s question, ‘Did the injury violate school rules?’ Mr Alzaga checked a box indicating ‘No,’” the legal action claims.

The youngster’s lawyer, Jessica Hernandez, told KRQE: “It’s been devastating”.

“I mean as you can imagine, this is a high school girl that this happens to.

“Not only is her life completely different, not only does she have the pain of a very serious injury that had a surgery with a very long recovery, but she also now has a very dramatic scar right on her wrist.”

She added: “Job prospects are now off the table for her. She’ll never be able to use her dominant hand the way she used to”.

The school district declined to comment when contacted by outlets.

The district did note Ms Mitchell was let go from her job in July 2022 but It’s unclear what led to this.

The Sun has attempted to contact Ms Mitchell.

This story was published in The Sun and is reproduced with permission.