A South Carolina mom is fighting back against heartless Internet trolls who mocked a picture she posted online of her disabled toddler, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder that leaves the little tyke with an uncertain future.
Kyra Pringle posted a photo to Facebook last month to celebrate little Mariah’s second birthday. But the well-intentioned snap, of the beautiful girl flashing a million-dollar smile, was hijacked by evil Internet users online, who turned the girl into a meme and made fun of her physical appearance.
Mariah suffers from the often-fatal Chromosome Two Duplication Syndrome, which impairs motor and learning skills, along with development, her mom told WVBD-TV.
“The smile that you guys think is funny or the smile that you guys are comparing to a leprechaun,” Kyra Pringle told the NBC affiliate, “the things you guys are saying about my child, she’s not a monster, she’s real, she’s here.”
The family, which has fought to support the little girl through hospitalizations and other health hazards during the short time she’s been alive, is distraught over the abuse.
“I never thought in a million years that I’d be sitting here trying to get out Mariah’s story like this, because of the negative,” the emotional mom told the station as she broke down crying. “This is bullying. It’s not right.”
Friends and supporters have rallied to the Pringles’ side, posting positive pictures and messages online. At least one person Kyra Pringle had never met sent her a video compilation of photos and messages of the darling little tyke, the proud mom said on Facebook.
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“She’s just a joy, it’s a joy to have her right now,” Pringle told WVBD. “It’s just to the point where we’re enjoying her.”
Family members know Internet users, with their notoriously short attention spans, will eventually move on and stop having their fun at the stricken little girl’s expense. But they hope their story about Mariah can point attention at the rare disorder – and encourage thoughtless trolls to think about their victims before they post demeaning things online.
“If you’re out there and you’re doing these things, and you think that it’s funny, it’s not funny,” the girl’s grandmother, Linda Pringle, told the news station. “This is actually a human being, this is a child, this is a baby.”
