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News article
Few in
Washington city are
angry at acid hoax woman
By Nigel Duara, Associated Press
Writer
via Yahoo News - 9/17/10 |
 The Web address of this article is
https://sfhelp.org/gwc/news/gwc2.htm
 Updated
April 11, 2015
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This news clip illustrates the behavior of a typical Grown Wounded Child
(GWC). See my comments after the clip. The links and hilights below
are mine. -
Peter Gerlach, MSW
+ + +
VANCOUVER, Wash. – The scars on
her face were real, but her story about being splashed with acid was a
horrific hoax.
A day after Bethany Storro's revelation turned the victim who drew worldwide
sympathy into a curiosity and the object of much derision, few who banded
together here to collect money for her medical bills were angry with her on
Friday.
They were just puzzled: What could bring the 28-year-old grocery store
worker to disfigure herself in such a public way, and invent a tale about a
black woman assaulting her with a cup of acid?
Friend John Pax, whose gym hosted a fundraiser that netted nearly $1,000,
said no one has asked for their money back yet. "No one's angry," he said.
"We just worry about her."
Storro's parents, Joe and Nancy Neuwelt, apologized Friday outside their
Vancouver home, saying they were "deeply sorry" and adding that all money
donated to their daughter will be returned.
Joe Neuwelt said they believed their daughter's account until she admitted
to police Thursday that her injuries were self-inflicted. "There was no
reason to doubt her at all," he said as he and his wife took turns reading
from a statement.
Nancy Neuwelt said she doesn't know why her daughter fabricated the story
but acknowledged Storro is "obviously dealing with some deep internal
emotional and psychological problems."
"Now she can begin to heal because the truth has been revealed," her mother
said.
The Neuwelts said they plan to get their daughter "the medical attention
that she needs and the counseling that she deserves."
Some in the black community in this leafy city on the banks of the Columbia
River were saddened that someone claiming to be a crime victim had again
placed an African-American in the role of villain.
"I'm not angry at all, and the reason is that this has happened many times
before, unfortunately," said Margo Bryant, president of the Vancouver branch
of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Bryant praised the police, and said she didn't hear of any blacks in the
area being questioned.
"At least (police) were willing to accept that this individual was not
telling the truth, or not automatically accept she was telling the truth
because she is white," Bryant said.
Police on Friday were planning to turn the case over to prosecutors. Storro
could face charges of filing a false police report.
Storro told police a stranger in a ponytail accosted her near a small park
on Aug. 30, uttering the now-infamous words — "Hey, pretty girl, want
something to drink?" — before scorching her face.
Instantly, her tale grabbed the headlines. And only grew when she appeared
before reporters, her head bandaged and alongside her parents, to ask a
nameless, faceless attacker: Why?
Storro said it was only chance and, perhaps, divine providence that led her
to purchase a pair of sunglasses just minutes earlier.
Umpqua Bank took up a collection to help her pay medical bills, raising "a
few thousand" dollars, said bank spokeswoman Lani Hayward. By Friday, no one
asked for their donation back, she said.
Police grew more suspicious, as inconsistencies in her story began to add
up.
They searched her home and her car. They wanted to know why no witnesses had
seen an assailant. Why didn't the splash pattern of the acid jibe with
Storro's account. And, finally, why would Storro be wearing sunglasses just
after 7 p.m.?
Under questioning, she folded.
But the question of her motive
remains unanswered.
Pax, the gym owner, said the tall tale wouldn't make city residents more
resistant to help out the next time someone is in need.
"This is a close-knit community," he said. "It's safe here. If something
like this happened again, we wouldn't hesitate to do it again."
Copyright © 2010 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Comments
This news clip follows
a major national human interest story about a young American woman who claimed a
stranger threw acid in her face without explanation. Her later admission that
she lied publicly and damaged her own face suggests desperation to be
with compassion. If details about her personal life are revealed in the media,
they will probably indicate that she has survived a traumatic childhood.
Self-damaging behavior
like this is widespread among
people. Often they
have no rational explanation for such behavior, because the well-intentioned
that cause it distort reality and are not "logical." By
definition, if this typical "Grown Wounded Child's"
were guiding her,
she never would have done what she did.
Note the implication
that the author of this news item knows nothing of personality subselves, and is
left to report that her motive for this self-injury is unknown. What the media
usually describes is romantic trouble, health, and/or financial stresses, or "a history
of mental illness." Reporters rarely investigate for child-hood trauma, or
connect it with the "bizarre" behavior -
P. K.
Gerlach
Pause, breathe, and reflect - why did you read this article? Did you get
what you needed? If not, what
you need? Who's
these questions - your
or
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Updated
April 11, 2015
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