The series of hate crimes against Asian community in the United States have been condemned by many worldwide. From the deadly shooting at Atlanta, Georgia last week, that left eight Asian Americans dead, to an assault on a 75-year-old lady in San Francisco, there have been numerous incidents. However, the victims have also received overwhelming support online and through donation pages set up on GoFundMe. Last week, Xiao Zhen Zie was physically assaulted by a white man in the San Francisco Bay Area. Thirty nine-year-old Steven Jenkins allegedly approached a man standing next to Zie, who was also an Asian, and assaulted him. The septuagenarian used her walking stick to defend herself, leaving the assaulter injured.
Zie, who suffered severe black eyes after the attack, later said she believed the attack on her was racially motivated and said it was entirely unprovoked and explained that her reflex was to fight back. She further said she was left traumatised by the experience.
Her grandson, John Chenset up a GoFundMe page for her grandmother where he told his potential donors that his grandmother was the one who defended herself from this unprovoked attack. He said she is now suffering two serious black eyes and one that is bleeding unstoppably and her wrist has also swelled up. John further mentioned his grandmother has been severely affected mentally, physically, and emotionally and is afraid to step out of her home.
The page mentioned that even though she has health insurance that covers the basics, there are still many medical expenses that cannot be covered on her own. John mentioned that his grandmother is a cancer survivor and she also has had diabetes for over 10 years. He assured the donors that the funds that they would receive will be used to cover her medical expenses, her therapy treatment, and her bills that will have to be paidconstantly from now on. John said his heart is with all the other elderly Asians that have also been seriously injured or killed in this wave of attacks towards the asian community.
John’s emotional plead certainly worked as the GoFundMe page has now collected $8,93,398. John updated his donors and said that Zie’s eye is no longer swollen to the point of not being able to open it. She is now starting to feel optimistic again and is in better spirits. Zie has also asked his grandson to donate all the funds generated in the GoFundMe back to the Asian American community to combat racism.