The family of a 7-year-old Trenton, Mich. girl who is battling a terminal illness has had to take on a very different battle: taunts about the child's condition from their neighbors.

 

Kathleen Edward is in the late stages of Huntington's disease, a genetic degenerative brain disorder, according to media reports. Her mother, Laura Edward, died of Huntington's last year.

 

Because of what the Edward family said was a longstanding feud with their neighbors, Jennifer and Scott Petkov, Jennifer Petkov posted images on Facebook of Laura in the arms of the Grim Reaper and Kathleen above a set of crossbones. Neighbors also say the Petkovs built a coffin, put it on their truck and drove past the Edward home, honking the horn.

 

When asked by a reporter from Detroit television station WJBK why she posted the photos, Jennifer Petkov said it was for "personal satisfaction" and because it upset the child's grandmother.

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Shortly after the feud was mentioned in news stories, people from around the world posted Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages of their own attacking Jennifer Petkov. The Petkovs have also allegedly received death threats and had eggs thrown at their house. The Petkovs have since apologized to the Edward family, telling The Detroit News their actions were "ignorant." They said they would apologize in person, but the Edward family has personal protective orders against their neighbors.

 

Mental health experts, who have no relationship with either family, say without knowing more about the Petkovs, it's difficult to say exactly why the couple behaved the way they did. The experts believe there could be a variety of reasons for their behavior, including poor conflict resolution skills, a lack of moral development and the desire to bully.

 

An 'Extreme Case' of Cyber-bullying

 

"This is probably the most extreme case [of cyber-bullying] I've ever heard of," said Cheryl Dellasega, author and professor of humanities at Penn State University College of Medicine in Hershey, Penn. "It's another way that people can say things that are really cruel that they wouldn't say to somebody's face. They're angry, resentful and jealous and put it up on Facebook knowing that the other person will see it."

 

Peter Sheras, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Virginia as well as an author of several books on bullying, disagrees that what the Petkovs did is a form of bullying. He said it's a very striking example of how many people in society have tremendous difficulty settling disputes.

 

"We don't have very good skills at managing conflict," said Sheras. "We don't have enough mechanisms for socializing people into civility."

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/terminally-ill-year-olds-family-bullied-neighbors/story?id=11851233

 

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5Mw0lHsu0M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5Mw0lHsu0M[/ame]

 

 

 

what the fuck is wrong with these people? She's seriously evil. This story really fucked up and really angers me!

That's horrible Why would anybody be so inconsiderate of somebody who has a terminal illness :(

^Because they're totally nuts.

Assholes. That's absolutely awful. :|

Sounds like its time to smack some hoes.

^ I can go do it if you want, I live about an hour from there

the theme is you are a **** lmao

Fucking sick minded freaks. Well, they'll get what they want when the burn in hell. :\ What douchebags.

Reading it again doesn't make it any less distressing. My heart goes out to that poor child. :sad:

Can anyone not post the second vid regarding this?

Too little/ too late, I know, but still-

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2SBgA92x0I]YouTube - 2nd video-Dying Girl, 7, Taunted by Neighbors: Petkov Family gets CPS visit; house vandalized[/ame]

yeah once they get threats, they want to apologize.

 

 

just sickening that their neighbor could do that. It is too late for them to do that... regardless of a dispute, there's no need to take it to another level to be attacking the child (who has nothing to do with a dispute), and also send negative/nasty messages regarding the dead mother and dying child. Those neighbors should burn for doing something that low.

Agreed, Mike- let's go whup some ass, just for "perseeenal sateeeeeesfaction" ;)

I study medicine and we studied 'Huntington's Disease'. We had real patients. And I quote my Genetics and Health lecturer when he said " You wouldn't wish this upon your worst enemy. It's the worst type of illness that anyone can develop." My teacher, a professional, a geneticist, was impacted by the decline of his patient's health. So... seriously and personally, it is just sick that people do this. The child is going to die with certainty. The family has already lost the mother due to HD. This is just cruel and in my honest and personal opinion should be a felony because you are killing somebody from the inside - destroying their quality of life and honestly - killing somebody's mentality- which opens up a very wide door for conditions such as depression leading to suicide.

This is just cruel and in my honest and personal opinion should be a felony because you are killing somebody from the inside - destroying their quality of life and honestly - killing somebody's mentality- which opens up a very wide door for conditions such as depression leading to suicide.

 

.

Dying 7 Year Old Girl Cyberbullied By 33 Year Old Neighbour!

 

I think this story is a little old, but I just came across it and it made me feel so sad and angry I just had to share it with you guys!

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20019377-10391704.html

Mike posted this weeks ago haha

There's already a thread about this.

my bad :\

Yeah it's really horrible.

 

There were actually already a couple threads about it though...

here and here.

there is another story that pisses me off, it's about a girl throwing puppies in the river. Did anyone post that?

oh my god that video of that girl

 

i think they found who she was

there is another story that pisses me off, it's about a girl throwing puppies in the river. Did anyone post that?

 

OMG! I cannot believe some people in the world are that wicked. Anyone that murders puppys is not human imo.

 

Also these cyberbullys are sick and twisted and i think they deserve to go to jail. :veryangry2:

 

thanks for posting.

OMG! I cannot believe some people in the world are that wicked. Anyone that murders puppys is not human imo.

 

Also these cyberbullys are sick and twisted and i think they deserve to go to jail. :veryangry2:

 

thanks for posting.

 

if you want I can post the puppy vid up, I won't right now because it's very graphic and it makes me feel sick :(