Woman who had wheelchair thrown down stairs doesn't want to keep all of the money raised for her
The woman who had her wheelchair thrown down a flight of stairs at a bar in Pennsylvania has explained that she doesn't want to keep all of the money raised for her after the incident.
The woman, who goes by Sydney on social media, was at Sullivan's Irish Pub in Erie, PA last weekend when she left her wheelchair at the top of the stairs to be assisted to the bathroom.
While she was gone, hockey player Carson Briere, 23, was caught on CCTV sitting in the chair and rolling it around with another student before pushing it down the stairs at the bar.
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The footage was shared online by a woman named Julia, and Briere has since apologised for the incident, saying there is 'no excuse' for his actions.
Meanwhile, someone who knows Sydney set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for a new wheelchair.
The organizer of the fundraiser, Nathaniel Sanders, explained that Sydney is a 'double amputee that needs the chair to be mobile while she is learning to use her prosthetics'.
The GoFundMe goal was originally set at $1,500 (£1m230), but as the video of Briere went viral donations flooded in and have now reached more than $8,800 (£7,200).
Sanders said he'd spoken to Sydney about the fundraiser, writing on the site: "She wants to use any money in excess of what it will cost to repair or replace the chair to help others that are in need and in similar situations."
Sydney herself took to Twitter yesterday (16 March) to reiterate Sanders' comments about the use of the money, sharing a picture of herself in her wheelchair and writing: "Hi im Sydney and it was my chair that was pushed down the stairs. I’m so thankful for all of Sullivan’s help in this situation and the kind comments I see on Julia’s post.
"I swear I really don’t wanna keep a cent of the donated money, I’d much rather give it to those who need it."
She later added another tweet to clarify that she would use as much of the GoFundMe money that was necessary to help fix her chair, but explained: "All the rest is going to the disabled community and to people who really need the help."
Sydney used her platform to describe the students' behaviour in the CCTV video as 'completely unacceptable', and added that she wanted to use the opportunity to help other people as she was 'lucky enough to have the resources' to help herself.
"I’ve learned that SO MANY disabled [people] have no support, not help, and no damn love. And it hurts my heart so imma [sic] do whatever I can to help," she wrote.
Emily Brown