GALION — (UPDATED 4:45 p.m.) Galion Schools superintendent James Grubbs said he has never heard of a Galion school “Fight Club” and called last week’s incident that led to the hospitalization of a student a sad reality.

“This is just an example of young people that don’t use resources to solve their issues. We encourage them to use the resources we have available to help solve differences,” Grubbs said. “We have a school resource officer, administration, guidance counselors, community counseling. There are lots of options for kids to seek out.

“I’m praying for the girl to have a quick recovery.”

A Galion family says it will press charges after their daughter was allegedly assaulted in what a spokesperson is terming a “Fight Club” incident.

The family says their 16-year-old was attacked by three individuals last Wednesday, resulting in multiple injuries and a life flight to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus.

“Since there are indicators that kids were paying to watch this, we believe it might be some sort of ‘Fight Club,’ ” said Bill Baker, a friend of the family who is serving as their spokesperson.

The girl’s mother submitted a statement to Richland Source on Monday afternoon.

“On Wednesday, March 2nd my daughter was lured into a vicious attack by a group of girls who had conspired to get her into a position from which she could not get away. This gang of girls, all significantly bigger than my daughter, attacked and repeatedly kicked and punched my daughter while she lay on the ground,” said the girl’s mother, who is not being identified to protect the teen. “The most disturbing part is that there were more than a dozen onlookers who neither tried to stop it nor called for any help. As they stood there, cellphones in hand video recording the incident, my daughter suffered several life-threatening injuries.”

According to the girl’s mother, her daughter is in Nationwide Children’s Hospital with “a torn liver, torn spleen, internal bleeding, cracked ribs, and cannot move her neck.” The hospital confirmed the teen is under its care, but declined to comment further on her condition.

“These injuries may take months to recover from and may preclude her from returning to school any time soon which means she will be forced to complete her schoolwork from home, on her own,” the girl’s mother said.

Baker said the girl was driving a friend home after school when they were confronted by other peers at a Payne Street address around 2 p.m.

According to a Galion Police Department incident report, Leah Garrett, 18, and Jeremy Perry, 28, reported a fight between one victim and three offenders. The names and identities were redacted from the police report because the brawl was between minors.

Chief Brian Saterfield said Monday the incident is still under investigation and would not comment further.

“Miss Garrett said that the fight was very hard to watch and that she started crying,” the police report states.

Garett and Perry said they went to the police Wednesday evening because they “felt as though the fight needed to be reported.”

According to Garrett and Perry, there were numerous minors involved with watching the fight and recording videos. Police obtained a copy of a video.