Xiao Zhen Xie, 75, plans to donate $900,000 that was raised for her to the Asian American Pacific Islander community.
Xiao Zhen Xie will not be silenced. Bruised and bloodied, police say the 75-year-old Asian American woman fought off her attacker with a wooden board that left the assailant on a stretcher last week.
“I was very scared and traumatized and very hurt and this eye still bleeding,” she said between tears from her senior retirement home in San Francisco as her daughter translated.
After Xie’s story went viral, nearly $1 million in donations poured in, in support of Xie’s courage. She now plans to donate the money to the Asian American community to fight racism, CBS San Francisco reported.
Xie’s grandson John Chen spoke to CBS San Francisco on her grandmother’s behalf.
"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."
Xie’s story made international headlines when viewers saw firsthand how distraught Xie was during the attack. Chen wrote on how his grandmother, who suffers from diabetes and is a cancer survivor, suffered two serious black eyes, one of which, he wrote, is “bleeding unstoppably,” along with swelling to her wrist from the attack.
Chen praised his grandmother’s strength and wrote that she was “racially attacked” on the GoFundMe page he created to raise funds for her medical expenses, with an initial goal of $50,000. The compelling title reads: “Help my grandmother recover from this trauma," with an image of her bruised and swollen face.
“She has been severely affected mentally, physically, and emotionally," Chen wrote. “She is afraid to step out of her home from now on. This traumatic event has left her with PTSD."
The page has been viewed more than 3,000 times with encouraging comments still pouring in..
One person who donated $100 wrote, “Thank you for showing us that we can have dignity and courage in the face of hate. You are an inspiration to us all.”
RELATED STORIES
