The family of Victoria Wilcher, an adorable 3-year-old recovering from a vicious dog attack, received another blow last week when they were asked to leave a Mississippi KFC because Victoria’s face was “scaring” other diners.
Understandably outraged by the incident, grandmother Kelly Mullins posted the top picture to Facebook and asked “Does this face look scary to you?” She later told WAPT-TV the young girl understood the insult and “wept all the way home.”
“She won’t even look in the mirror anymore,” Victoria’s grandmother said. “When we go to a store, she doesn’t even want to get out.”
Kelly’s Facebook post, which was published on a page dedicated to documenting Victoria’s progress, quickly went viral — and caught the attention of KFC executives. A spokesman announced over the weekend that they’ve launched an investigation, but will give the family $30,000 toward Victoria’s medical expenses regardless of the probe’s outcome.
As soon as we were notified of this report on Friday, we immediately began an investigation, as this kind of hurtful and disrespectful action would not be tolerated by KFC… We have apologized to Victoria’s family and are committed to assisting them. The company is making a $30,000 donation to assist with her medical bills. The entire KFC family is behind Victoria.
According to Victoria’s Victories Facebook page, Victoria was mauled by three pit bulls while visiting her grandfather’s trailer park in April. The owner immediately put down the three dogs to stop the attack, but Victoria sustained a “broken upper and lower jaw, broken nose, cheek bones and right eye socket. She lost her right eye completely and the ability to move the right side of her face.” She also temporarily lost some function on the right side of her body, but has been making great strides in physical therapy.
On top of it all, Victoria’s parents welcomed a second baby girl in mid-May, so they are now balancing doctor’s appointments, medical care and a newborn. They are reportedly also struggling with the insurance company, which wouldn’t pay for Victoria’s feeding pump, pole or formula… Victoria’s grandmother said the reason they went to KFC in the first place was because she thought Victoria could tolerate some of the soft mashed potatoes.
One silver-lining seems to be the awareness that the KFC incident has brought to Victoria’s story: The Facebook page had 250 likes beforehand, but has since ballooned to more than 60,000 supporters.
UPDATE – There is now a report that the entire story may have been completely fabricated. Click here to read the deatils from two alleged sources close to the investigation as well as the response from Victoria’s family.
