Dying Girl Treated to $2,000 Toy Shopping Spree

Kathleen Edward, a seven-year-old girl with Huntington's Disease, was cruelly taunted by neighbors. But well-wishers made up for it by treating her to a $2,000 toy shopping spree.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on October 20 2010

Flickr Creative Commons image by Brave Heart

Kathleen Edward, a seven-year-old girl, lost her mother Laura to Huntington’s disease last year. Now, tragically, Kathleen herself is dealing with the same terminal illness.

Edward’s family has had a long-running dispute with nearby neighbors, Scott and Jennifer Petrov, and the couple has been cruel and abusive to the dying child. Among other insults, the couple had posted images of Kathleen’s face above crossbones on Facebook, and drove a truck with a coffin attached to the back up and down the street.

Needless to say, the abuse has been difficult for Kathleen and her family to deal with—but, after the Petrovs’ bullying behavior became public knowledge, Kathleen received a huge outpouring of support from all around the globe. More than $20,000 has been donated in support of Kathleen.

Most of that money is going to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, but $2,000 was set aside for Kathleen herself. Last Tuesday, she was taken on a shopping spree to Tree Town Toys, where red velvet ropes were erected in her honor.

“I think it will sink in when she sees all these toys fill up her room and her bedroom,” Robert Edward, Kathleen’s father, told The Detroit News. “It’s just a wonderful thing.”

Filed under: General Interest, Health and Wellbeing,

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