What a rollercoaster ride this viral Facebook post has been. When Stacy posted this picture on James’ Facebook page on September 6th, she had no idea that it would take off like it did.
Watching this simple picture get shared, liked, and commented on has been nothing short of amazing. It’s been three months since she posted it, and it has reached almost 17 million people and counting. In the beginning the comments and reactions were positive and supportive, but then the trolls moved in and tried to ruffle some feathers with their mean, hurtful, derogatory, and sometimes vulgar comments.
Then something awesome happened. We witnessed some of James’ fans go on the defensive and stand up to these bullies for him…and for us. And believe it or not, we received a couple of apologies after these super fans confronted them. As you’ll see later in this post, I am not sure if I can accept their apologies, though.
I had been going back and forth whether I wanted to share these negative comments or not. Part of me just wanted to ignore it and shrug it off. After all, giving these trolls attention is exactly what they want. They post crap about something or someone just to get a rise out of people. Somehow it makes them feel better about themselves. How pathetic is that? I mean, how sad is your life that you need to mock and make fun of someone else to make yourself feel better?
Then there was the other part of me that wanted to go after them for attacking my kid. That’s what parents are supposed to do, right? I’m sure that some of those comments were made through fake accounts that they use just for trolling people. If they get too much blowback, they’ll just delete the account, create a new one, and either continue their attacks on James or move onto their next target. Some of those that made derogatory comments weren’t that smart, though. They actually left their comments using a real account. I could easily post their names and, in some cases, where they live, but I won’t do that. Karma will eventually find them and give them exactly what they deserve.
Last week something amazing happened and I have decided to share a few of these negative comments because they’re part of an amazing story now. I don’t want to give these idiots the spotlight, so I have blurred out their last names and profile pictures in the screenshot below. Some of the screenshots also include responses from James’ fans in which I will also blur out their last names and profile pictures. Sound good?
I should probably put one of those TV content warnings here and say that some of the comments and images below may be unsuitable for some audiences. Reader discretion is advised. If you’d rather not see them and skip to the good part at the end, click here.
Alright, here we go…
September 6th
Stacy posted the picture at the top of this post to James’ Facebook page.
September 16th
Stewart made the following comment:
“The only thing I see here is a masturbating boy on a wheel chair. Take a look at the face expression…”
September 17th
Stewart left an apology, presumably after one of James’ fans yelled at him:
“James I am sorry I made such ugly comment about your photo, I didn’t understand what it was all about at first. To all my insensitive comment has offended, I am deeply sorry. Forgive please”
November 5th
Grace tags Ethan in the comments on the Facebook post and then they go back and forth a bit making fun of those in wheelchairs:
“Ethan: Grace, what’s the hardest part of the vegetable to eat?
Grace: Ethan umm the wheelchair I think. <laughing emojis>
Ethan: Grace, <laughing emojis>
Ethan: posts a couple of images of people in wheelchairs
Grace: <laughing emojis>
Grace: savage <laughing emojis>
Grace: posts a picture of someone in a wheelchair”
After the above comments were posted, some of James’ fans took it upon themselves to personally contact Ethan about his comments. Some of his fans discovered where Ethan worked and suggested that people should contact the company about the comments he made. I worried that this may get out of hand and wrote an email to the company to explain the situation. It’s one thing to go after the person that made the comments, but don’t go after the company they work for.
A friend of Stacy’s contacted Ethan directly through Facebook:
Friend: You said very terrible things. You don’t even know the half of what this boy and his mother have had to live through. If you knew them, you would understand how heartbreaking your jokes were. The mother of this boy saw your comments.
Ethan: Good morning, being honest, we though it was just a meme, we did not understand it was someone’s son, we see a lot of stuff on Facebook, jokes etc, how ever, joke or real life, I understand this is something that shouldn’t be laughed about, and for that we are sorry! On behalf of me and my sister, if you could please show the Childs parents, that it was not meant to be a cruel joke.
Friend: This was the most mature and thoughtful response! Thank you and have a great day!
Ethan : One again we are sorry! If the parents with to contact me, then they can have my Facebook, and I can apologise to them. Thankyou
I am not sure if I can accept Ethan’s apology. I hope he feels like shit for making the comments that he did and being called out for it. His sister, too. I don’t care if he thought it was a joke or not. The fact that he basically made fun of anybody in a wheelchair is not acceptable. James will never know what it’s like to walk, or run, or play sports, or ride a bike. Is that funny? I don’t think so. How about someone who was involved in a car accident and lost one or both of their legs and needs to use a wheelchair to get around. Is that funny? Or how about a soldier who lost their legs while fighting in a war? I think I’ve made my point. None of this is funny.
November 14th
Steven posts this comment:
“Jesus, How about we put him out of his fucking misery.”
November 23rd
Heliodoro leaves a comment and gets multiple responses:
“Heliodoro: I don’t understand how people is okay with this how are you going to prison a soul in a body that have no will over anything.
Andrea: Heliodoro are you suggesting they murder him?
Heliodoro: Andrea can you see your self in his shoes?
Mackenzie: The should’ve aborted him if they knew his condition before having him. This is torture to a person. They live in CONSTANT pain and agony. They cant walk, talk, feed themselves..they cant even use the restroom. It’s so sad.
Mackenzie: And so selfish of the parents.
Jeff: Well…your not wrong
Elaine: Heliodoro obviously an uneducated fool who has no idea what they are talking about. I would never ever comment on something like this to s stranger but YOU are everything that is wrong with the human race. You vile person.
Elaine: Mackenzie maybe your parents should have aborted you if they knew you would turn into such a dickhead”
November 24th
Bryan made a meme from the original image in which he cropped around James’ face and wrote this on the picture: WHEN SHE KEEPS SUCKING AFTER YOU NUT.
I don’t understand why he also added “Do not copy” to the meme. So, he makes a copy of someone else’s picture, adds some words to it, and tells us not to copy it? What’s he going to do, come after me for copyright infringement? What a genius this guy is!
November 25th
Jeremiah also turned the original picture into a meme in which he added a bird with a worm in such a way that it looks like it’s feeding James.
Alright, I think that is enough. I apologize if any of the above comments or pictures upset any of you. I just wanted to give you a glimpse of what we’ve had to deal with.
Now we get to the best part of the story…
In the End, Good Always Wins
It’s good to have friends in the media. There is a reporter for the Daily Herald that has been writing articles about James for the past several years. First with the van fundraiser, then with the bathroom renovation, and then with the fundraiser the students had for us at Elmhurst College. He follows James on Facebook and when all of these disrespectful and hurtful comments were made on the viral post, he decided to write an article about it….and it made the front page of the paper.
But it didn’t stop there. I guess someone at NBC 5 News Chicago saw the paper and also wanted to cover the story. They contacted Stacy and asked her to do a news story on it that same day. Stacy met the reporter and her camera crew at James’ school where they interviewed Stacy and James’ one-on-one nurse. The story and video are on NBC Chicago’s website here.
In case you can’t view the video on NBC Chicago’s website, Stacy took a cellphone recording of it which can be viewed below. I’m probably breaking copyright law by posting it here, but it’s such an awesome story that needs to be shared. Credit goes to NBC Chicago. Sorry about the low volume.
We want to send a special thank you to both the Daily Herald and NBC Chicago for running this story. The outpouring of support in response to this media coverage has been huge. Just as an example, the reporter from the Daily Herald forwarded Stacy the following email that he received:
“I loved “Instead of ‘don’t stare’ Let’s start teaching ‘Say Hello’”. The Daily Herald’s front page news story made my day. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have always acknowledged people with disabilities and could always feel their love in return. Plus, the caregiver always looked at me with a smile.
Where can I purchase this flyer. I would love to post it in our schools, library, Village Hall, etc. in Villa Park. I have sent it to my 9 grandchildren, their parents, and great grandchildren. They all responded with love.”
But wait, there’s more! The day after all of the media coverage, a 2nd grade class at James’ school drew a bunch of pictures for James and came into his classroom to say “hello”. His teacher collected the pictures and turned them into a book that he brought home. Here is just a sampling of those pictures:
Like I said in the beginning of his post, this has been quite a rollercoaster of emotions. We want to thank everyone that posted kind words, shared James’ post, and took on the bullies. We appreciate and love all of you.
In case you are wondering how James has been handling all of this, he’s doing just fine. To be honest, I’m kind of glad that he doesn’t comprehend it. He doesn’t see all of the negative and bad things in the world. I guess he’s lucky in that way. We do think he has been enjoying all of the attention, though. And before you ask, he doesn’t do autographs.
