A mother could not raise $3,000 necessary for her daughter's doctor's visit because of a hoax involving another person's Facebook page with a similar name.
36-year-old Kelli Wheeler claimed she was abused, and her fundraising efforts regarding her daughter Victoria's leg surgery were overshadowed by an unrelated, alleged hoax, according to The New York Daily News. The toddler's grandmother Kelli Mullin set up a Facebook crowdfunding page called "Victoria's Victories" to help pay for Victoria's $135,000 post-operation check up in Florida. The Wheeler family told the New York Daily News that the young girl suffers from Congenital Short Femur/PFFD in her leg.
But the Wheeler's efforts were dashed by a fiasco that reportedly occurred in a Jackson, Miss., KFC. 3-year-old Victoria Wilcher, who was attacked by a pitbull in April, was allegedly asked to leave the fast food restaurant with her grandmother after patrons told employees her appearance was frightening.
Immediate backlash on social media ensued - critics said the KFC blunder was a hoax, while members of the Wilcher family insisted they'd been ushered out of the restaurant.
According to Kelli Wheeler, the KFC issue dimmed the public's attention on efforts to raise money for her child.
"Over the past 10 months the response to Victoria's Victories page has been humbling as well as uplifting," Wheeler told The Daily News. "I don't think anyone wants to ask for monetary assistance for their child, but at the same time I know there are people out there who want to help."
"When I started seeing the hate-filled messages on our Facebook wall and in personal message I redirected each person individually, then I made a post stating our page was not affiliated with the Victoria Wilcher Facebook page in any way," Wheeler stated. "I even thought I might have to change her Facebook page name - which is sad, because I have t-shirts, stickers, banners and other fundraising items that use the name 'Victoria's Victories. When the alleged hoax was investigated and revealed to the public, the other page was then removed from Facebook."
