A 76-year-old elderly Chinese grandmother, who was assaulted by a Caucasian man nearly half her age, has decided to give away the S$1.25 million raised for her to the Asian American community with the blessing of her family.
The intention to give away the donations raised for the elderly woman, Xie Xiaozhen, was announced on the GoFundMe page started by the woman's grandson, John Chen.
The donation drive was initially intended to raise funds for Xie's medical treatment and therapy following her assault.
The initial goal to raise USS$50,000 was surpassed within hours.
Giving away money
On March 23, the GoFundMe page provided an update.
It said: "We as a community cannot stay silent nor be silenced anymore. That is why our family plans to donate ALL funds generated in this GoFundMe to help the AAPI community recover, and combat racism."
AAPI stands for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Woman's mental health declined
Three days before announcing the intention to donate all funds to the APPI community, the page provided an update on Xie's health.
The update said the elderly woman was still physically hurt and making slow progress in her recovery, as her eyes were still swollen and bleeding from time to time, but the more serious issue was the woman's mental state.
The elderly woman was said to have constantly repeated the phrase, "I'm so scared, I'm so scared" in Cantonese, and had to take medication to control her heart rate "so it doesn't get out of hand".
The update also said the woman hallucinated about passing away: "The scariest part was that she kept repeating that one of our relatives that have passed away recently is going to take her to heaven with her (my deceased relative). She is having pessimistic thoughts and hallucinations."
Doing better now
In the next latest update on March 23, the GoFundMe page said Xie is recovering and in better spirits, and insistent on giving away all the money raised for her.
The post wrote: "She said we must not submit to racism and we must fight to the death if necessary. She also stated multiple times to donate all the funds generated in this GoFundMe back to the Asian American community to combat racism. She insists on making this decision saying this issue is bigger than Her. This is my grandma, grandpa, and our family’s decision. We hope everyone can understand our decision."
Brief background
A 39-year-old Caucasian man assaulted a 76-year-old Chinese woman in San Francisco -- only for the tables to turn.
The elderly Asian woman retaliated by beating up her younger attacker with a wooden plank she found on the road, and putting the man on a stretcher.
For her successful defence, the elderly woman has been applauded for standing up against a racist bully.
Many who saw the video of the aftermath of the incident sympathised with her.
The elderly woman was originally from Guangdong.
A video clip of Xie crying out in Cantonese, "You bum, why did you hit me?", while holding an ice bag to her bruised face as her assailant laid on a stretcher with blood dripping from his mouth, exploded all over Chinese internet.