All 8-year-old Safyre Terry wanted for Christmas was cards. And cards was all she got thanks to the greed of Kimberly Bradford.
Let’s start from the beginning. Safyre, who lives in upstate New York, was five when a fire swept through her family home, killing her father and three siblings.
Safyre survived — barely. She suffered burns over 75% of her body, leaving her badly disfigured and ultimately resulting in the amputation of her left foot and right hand.
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An aunt who has since taken the child into her home and heart said at the time, “Doctors were just making her comfortable until she passed away. She wanted to live.” And live, she did.
But what propelled Safyre’s story into the headlines in December 2015 was her one wish for Christmas: cards and lots of them.
Her aunt, Liz Dolder, posted the request on Facebook. The response was overwhelming. Millions of holiday greetings flooded into the Schenectady County home. So voluminous were the cards and letters that dozens of volunteers needed to be enlisted just to open the mail.
One of those volunteers was Kimberly Bradford, which brings us current.
Bradford, it now turns out, helped herself to the cash many caring souls had included in their cards.
According to ABC affilate WHAM via AP, “41-year-old … Bradford of Rotterdam was charged with fourth-degree grand larceny Thursday.”
We have all heard the expression “taking candy from a baby,” used to indicate the ease with which a crime or immoral act can be carried out. Literally taking candy from a baby would be bad enough. But what special brand of heartless depravity does it take for a human being to pocket money intended for a child whose life had been turned upside down?
