Courtesy: Liz Dodler
A young girl who last year lost her family to an arson fire had Christmas come early this year when the one thing she asked for came true.
And then the gifts kept on coming.
Safyre Terry was the lone survivor after someone set the stairs that led to her family’s upstairs apartment on fire. The fire killed her father, David Terry, and three siblings. Safyre is said to have survived because her father held her tightly, preventing her from breathing in the deadly fumes.
Yet Safyre still suffered burns on over 75 percent of her body, lost her right hand and left food, and has undergone numerous operations to graft skin over the burns.
Now, under the care of her aunt after her mother signed over custody, Safyre wanted just one thing this Christmas: to fill a Christmas card tree her aunt had bought her.
So, Safyre’s aunt, Liz Dodler, shared a photograph on Facebook of Safyre with the Christmas card holder. When Dodler’s friend Kevin Clark saw the post, he asked permission to share it with a simple request: write and send Safyre a Merry Christmas card to hang on her tree.
I wonder how many of my friends would take the time to write and send Safyre a Merry Christmas card that she can hang on her card tree….Safyre P.O. Box 6126Schenectady NY 12306
Posted by Kevin Clark on Friday, December 4, 2015
What happened next, nobody could foresee.
Clark’s post was shared over 20,000 times. Safyre has now received hundreds of Christmas cards, far more than can fit on the holder, as well as teddy bears, stuffed kittens, handmade jewelry, books, and cards signed by entire classrooms of children, according to the Associated Press.
And then the gifts kept on coming.
American Greetings caught wind of the campaign, and they
created a page that allows anybody to sign before they will send to Safyre at no cost.
A
YouCaring fundraising page has also been created and since the post went viral last week, has raised over $174,000 to help cover medical expenses.
On Wednesday, Safyre herself took to Facebook to thank everybody for the outpouring of support in a touching video message.
This is one Christmas message that everybody can enjoy.
