Karen Klein, the 68-year-old bus monitor who was harshly bullied by middle-schoolers, is starting to get apologies, while the bullies are getting death threats.
This week a video was released showing Klein get tormented by the kids who repeatedly called her fat, ugly, poor and old. The 10-minute video went viral and got a lot of response. The video, posted on Youtube has been viewed over four million times.
Some felt Klein's pain and decided to do something nice for her in response to the cruel treatment she received. Max Sidorov, a recent college graduate from Toronto saw the video on Reddit and decided to help. He started a fundraiser on Indiegogo.com to raise money for Klein to go on vacation. The funds have now reached enough money to allow Klein to retire. So far over $560,000 has been raised through over 25,000 donations and it continues to grow.
Klein is skeptical about the donations as she told Andersoon Cooper on CNN. She said "It's a nice gesture, but I don't know if it's real or not. It sounds too good to be true."
Klein has already been given a free trip to Disneyland by Southwest Airlines. The airlines gave her a three-night trip for 10 people to the Anaheim, California location. Brooks Thomas, a spokesperson for Southwest, said "she deserves a vacation right now," The National Post reports.
Something than Klein really does want is an apology. National Public Radio quoted Klein as saying "They could write me letters. ...I don't know if I want to see them face to face again. I doubt it."
Reports show that Klein has received some apologies from some of the bullies and parents. In an interview with Cooper, Klein gets to hear some statements made.
One bully, Josh, said, "I am so sorry for the way I treated you. When I saw the video I was disgusted and could not believe I did that. I am sorry for being so mean and I will never treat anyone this way again."
Another bully says, "I feel really bad about what I did. I wish I had never done those things. If that had happened to someone in my family, like my mother or grandmother, I would be really mad at the people who did that to them."
Cooper also revealed that some of the parents of the bullies gave apologies.
Wesley's mother said "I cannot even tell you how badly I feel. I am deeply sorry for what my son did. I wish there was some way to make it up to you. I would like it if he could do some work for you or help you in some way. I'm sure that you don't want him anywhere near you or your property and I don't blame you. I am embarrassed, angry and sad about the awful way he treated you. I am truly sorry."
The father of a bully named Luis told Klein, "We apologize, from the bottom of our hearts on what happened. We wish this will never happen again, to nobody and from nobody. Like Luis said, if your friend says to bully somebody, please don't do it....A couple of people have already died because of this. We apologize to Ms. Klein. We're deeply sorry."
The boys in the video have reportedly received death threats over the incident. One boy received several thousand threats on the internet. Police were patrolling around the boy's houses in Greece, NY whose identities were leaked over the web, Mercury News reports.
Good Morning America reported one of the bully's father's, Robert Helm, as saying "My family's received death threats. He's a 13-year-old kid. It was a stupid mistake and he's paying for it but I just think it's a little out of control."
Greece Police Capt. Steve Chatterton said, "A threat for a threat does not make the situation better."
When Klein heard about the threats, she told Cooper, "I didn't like that."
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