The mother of an east Portland middle schooler is suing the district after her son fell in his wheelchair and fractured both his thigh bones, an incident she says school staff didn’t tell her about until three days after it happened.

Sherry Schregardus said her son, Devin, who has cerebral palsy and is non-verbal, took a spill at school on Dec. 1, 2017 after his teachers failed to properly belt him in. But school officials only told her about it after doctors took X-rays during an emergency room visit at Legacy Randall Children’s Hospital many hours later.

Schregardus recalled staffers at Ron Russell Middle School in the David Douglas district texted her at 10:29 a.m. that day, saying Devin was “whining,” according to court documents.

Schregardus replied to the text, telling school staff to give the boy Tylenol or ibuprofen. A staffer later texted Schregardus to say Devin “seems better” after taking the medicine. He went home on the bus later that day, according to a suit Schregardus filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

But Schregardus noticed Devin, who also suffers from a seizure disorder and lost the use of three limbs after suffering a traumatic brain injury as an infant, was showing signs of discomfort whenever his mother touched his legs.

She took him to the emergency room at Legacy Randall Children’s Hospital, where an X-ray revealed the boy had suffered a fracture of his right thigh bone.

The next day, Schregardus told school officials, including Devin’s physical therapist, his teacher and then-principal Thu Truong, about his injuries. Nobody mentioned his fall, according to the suit.

Two more days passed before school officials told Schregardus Devin had fallen out of his wheelchair three days earlier, the lawsuit says.

The boy gets around with the use of a wheelchair that employs straps in three places — his ankles, lap and chest — to keep him secure.

Devin was reportedly only strapped in by his ankles and chest when he fell forward, his head smacking the floor because he couldn’t properly brace himself for the impact, according to the suit.

On Dec. 7, Schregardus said, she told doctors about the fall during a follow-up appointment. Another X-ray found Devin had also fractured his left thigh bone.

And in the seven days between the boy’s fall and that appointment, according to the suit, Devin’s left thigh bone had become unaligned. Devin had to undergo surgery during which doctors re-aligned the fractured bone with permanent metal screws.

Schregardus is suing the district for failing to notify her about Devin’s fall and because she said school officials didn’t properly secure Devin to his wheelchair, according to court documents. She also claims the district didn’t properly train classroom aids.

The family is seeking $2.8 million, in part due to the emotional trauma the boy continues to experience after his caregivers left him to suffer for hours with fractured legs. David Douglas School District officials declined to comment on the suit.