A 12-year-old autistic boy was hospitalized in a serious condition after he was allegedly given a drink mixed with bleach by older children in Sussex, England, on Friday.

The boy, identified as Ronnie Phillips, met up with some older children after he reportedly sneaked out of his home with his younger brother while their mother, Danielle Porter, was sleeping. The children allegedly gave him a can of drink claiming that it had alcohol.

The boy collapsed as soon as he consumed the drink. His 11-year-old brother, Jimmy, started screaming for help following which a woman called the paramedics. The boy was rushed to a hospital in London. He was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit and was put in an induced coma.

Police were investigating the incident.

"Police are investigating after a boy fell seriously ill in Crawley in the early hours of Friday morning (Oct. 9). Officers attended Byrd Road shortly before 12.30 a.m. after concerns were raised for the welfare of a 12-year-old boy who had collapsed. The boy was taken to hospital in a serious condition. He remains in hospital in a stable condition," a spokesman for Sussex Police said, Sussex Live reported.

Though there is no official confirmation regarding the substance mixed in the drink, the boy's family believes it is bleach.

"Enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances of what happened, and to identify if any offences have been committed. Police are currently awaiting the results of tests to determine what may have caused the boy to collapse," the spokesman said.

The boy's mother said the children fled the scene as soon as Phillips collapsed.

"I just want to make people realise the dangers of drink, drugs, playing stupid games and running away leaving a child to die. Kids will be kids but this sort of stuff is just ridiculous and dangerous," she said.

The boy's grandmother has launched a fundraiser to raise money for the boy's treatment.

Doctors treat a patient infected with COVID-19, which has pushed the Brazilian health care system to the brink, at the Intensive Care Unit of the Hospital de Clinicas, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on April 15, 2020
Representational image of a patient being treated at the Intensive Care Unit of the Hospital de Clinicas, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on April 15, 2020 AFP / Silvio AVILA
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