www.csua.org/u/vu4 -> gma.yahoo.com/york-woman-blinded-shopping-cart-dropped-teens-forgives-072433679--abc-news.html
html#vid=28667216&browseCaro uselUI=hide&autoPlay=true The New York mother of two who suffered a serious brain injury and lost the use of her left eye after two teenagers sent a shopping cart crashing down 50 feet onto her says she forgives the boys and is more concerned for the welfare of her own teenage son, who witnessed the accident. Marion Hedges was briefly in a coma and now needs daily physical therapy after two teenage boys hoisted a shopping cart over the railing of a shopping mall parking garage last fall. In a video tape obtained by the New York Post, the two teens are seen hoisting a shopping cart at the East Harlem Target shopping center in New York City. At first it gets stuck, but then the teens push it over, sending it crashing 50 feet down and hitting Hedges, 47, as she is standing below. Hedges' forgiving attitude is less surprising knowing that she is a philanthropist who works with an organization that gives to women and children. She was at the mall at the time buying Halloween candy for under-privileged children. What she's most worried about now, she says, is how the incident has affected her eyewitness son. "The video shows my son being so brave, but I don't want him to hear the screaming and the trauma," Hedges said. "I don't think my son or his friends would do anything like that. A shopping mall is no place for kids, but they had nowhere to go on that day." The video also shows the bravery of a third teenager who was at the mall that day. In the video footage of the incident, 14-year old Achilles Baskin can be seen trying to stop the other two from tossing the cart over the railing, and then is seen running off to find help. Achilles later turned his friends in, and they pleaded guilty. One boy is serving six to 18 months in a non-secure facility in Westchester, while the other is doing six to 16 months in a therapeutic group home. After watching Hedges suffer a serious brain injury and go through grueling rehab, the woman's father-in-law is much less forgiving. That you can get away with something like this with very little punishment, and that's a very bad commentary on the state of justice," Michael Hedges Sr. said, adding to ABC News New York affiliate WABC that he believes the boys should be "hung by their toe nails." Achilles, who tried to stop them, spent three weeks in New York's Bellevue hospital for psychiatric evaluation after witnessing the event.
Nome, Alaska o 6 hours ago If I had done this when I was a kid my mom and dad would have killed me. I fear these kids didnt have any respect for anyone or anything.
Cleveland, Ohio o 8 hours ago There were a lot of Summer days I had growing up where I had nowhere to go. I never felt that made it ok to throw a shopping cart on someone's head.
William o 7 hours ago She might be able to forgive those teens but I can't forgive a court system that would give away such lax penalties for such a horrible act of senseless violence.
Slidell, Louisiana o 8 hours ago When I was young we did some stupid things that could have injured someone, but nothing like this. This is attempted murder, and they should get far worse punishment than a year or two in therapy.
There is nothing "accidental" about hoisting a shopping cart over a railing and dropping it on some innocent person 50' below! That was planned, vicious, malicious and it does not make me see anything good in a couple of teenage boys. I am sorry, but that is another case, where the system has failed the victim and society. All that shows me, is that in today's legal system you get off easier with vicious and violent crimes than you would for petty property crimes or selling pot on the street corner. I really don't care, that they are only teenagers, she is only an innocent victim, who has to deal with the consequences for the rest of her life. How does that compare to the consequences of their action for them?
Seattle, Washington o 7 hours ago 'My son is also 13, and he is a very good boy'. I would have loved to have seen the look on the other mothers face at that second.
Stepforward o 6 hours ago I would bet these boys have instigated "pranks" like this before, but no one was injured or they were never caught! Our society has become so politically correct kids and adults think harmful pranking is just kids being kids and punishment is little or none, as we see here. Bullying falls into the same pitfall and we now have a stream of child suicides because action is not taken. Parents see kids abusing/killing small animals and write it off as just being a kid. It is not just being a kid, it is preparation for more horrible deeds in the future. Wake up folks, watch your kids and stop inexcusable behavior before they maim or kill someone.
Dodge City, Kansas o 8 hours ago When I read about this type of incident, w/ alarming frequency it seems, my mind wanders back to our human roots. Do you think during our hunter/gatherer days antisocial behaviors would have been met w/ the therapeutic approach or would the perpetrators have been ripped limb from limb. Not that long ago, right here in the US, there were public hangings which, I believe, were a real deterrent to aberrant behavior.
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