Heather Durham says she's worried that her son's football coach and 2 of his fellow students could get in trouble for trying to help him.
She says on Sunday, her son Oliver left home and didn't show up at Warren's Lincoln High School on Monday morning.
Durham says he's been incredibly stressed out over her battle with Stage 3 ovarian cancer, as well as the family's recent eviction. They were behind on rent because Durham says she's unable to work.
Thanks to a charity, their home for two weeks is now a local motel, but they don't know where they'll go after this.
"I'm scared..so, if me being an adult is scared, I can only imagine how my children feel," says Durham.
She says Oliver's football coach was able to reach him via text Monday morning.
After that, she says the coach, along with 2 of Oliver's fellow students left school and went to get Oliver. Surveillance video, which some initially thought was a possible abduction, showed when the trio found Oliver in Eastpointe and had him get in the truck.
Durham says one of the students, who's her godson, body slammed Oliver after Oliver hit him because he was upset.
Nobody was hurt and Durham says they took Oliver to school. She credits the coach for stepping in.
"My son even told me, 'Mom, I had a couple dollars. I would have been on a bus I was ready to leave,'" says Durham.
Now, Durham is worried that the coach, and the kids who were with him, could face disciplinary action from the school district because they intervened in the way that they did.
She says, "If you punish the coach or the kids, you're sending a negative message. They love my kid," she says.
7 Action News reached out to the superintendent of Van Dyke Public Schools. We received this statement:
The school district is aware of the incident and it is under investigation.The safety and security of our students is always of utmost concern, and that will remain our focus first and foremost. We have no further comments at this time.
Meanwhile, Eastpointe police say they had considered criminal charges against one of the student's because of that body slam, but have since decided not to pursue that. They say they're just glad that they know what happened and that Oliver is ok.
