The Fort News

Nathaniel Sanders/GoFundMe

The girl who had her wheelchair inexplicably shoved down a flight of stairs by an NHL team exec and ex-player’s son has spoken out about the stunning incident captured on camera—saying she designs to not accept “a cent” of the somewhere around $9,000 which is been elevated for her.

Sydney Benes, 22, tweeted late Wednesday night time that she’s “so thankful” for the guidance of personnel at the pub—Sullivans in Erie, Pennsylvania—and to the hundreds of messages of assist she’s received.

“It was my chair that was pushed down the stairs,” Benes posted. “I’m so grateful for all of Sullivan’s aid in this circumstance and the sort comments I see on Julia’s article. I swear I actually do not wanna keep a cent of the donated dollars, I’d a great deal relatively give it to those people who need to have it.”

A GoFundMe for Benes, structured by the bar’s stability supervisor, Nathaniel Sanders, states she’s a double amputee who depends on a wheelchair to get around as she learns to use her prosthetics.

Sanders mentioned he’s the human being who carried Benes to the bar’s to start with flooring on Saturday so she could use the bathroom—briefly leaving her wheelchair unattended at the prime of a staircase. Seconds later on, higher education hockey participant Carson Brière, the 23-12 months-outdated son of Philadelphia Flyers interim general supervisor Daniel Brière, hopped in the wheelchair while seemingly joking with a friend. He then stood up and shoved the wheelchair down a staircase as he and the other male smirked.

The duo swiftly walked towards the bar’s dance floor right after generating the press.

The incident was captured by protection cameras and was shared to Twitter, where by it’s been seen 33 million times considering that Tuesday morning.

“I generally do not write-up something major on my Twitter but something occurred Saturday night and (I) just cannot stomach the imagined of this kid receiving absent with it,” Julia Zukowski wrote in the tweet, which also discovered Brière by name.

Mercyhurst College, the small Catholic university exactly where Brière has been a standout centre considering that 2021, produced a assertion to admonish his actions but didn’t announce any punishment.

Story carries on

“The actions displayed in the video clip make our hearts significant and fall limited of our Mercy perception in the inherent dignity of each person,” the assertion reported. “We pray for and are in solidarity with the target and all people with disabilities.”

The school’s athletic section reported Wednesday that Brière and two other unnamed student athletes ended up suspended from team things to do as it investigates what took place. The hockey time for Mercyhurst finished earlier this month, having said that, so Brière is not at imminent hazard to skip any game titles.

Both equally Brière and his dad apologized in independent statements introduced Wednesday.

“There is no excuse for my actions and I will do whichever I can to make up for this critical deficiency of judgment,” the youthful Brière’s statement go through in component.

“I was stunned to see Carson’s steps in the video shared on social media yesterday,” Brière’s father wrote in his assertion. “They are inexcusable and operate wholly counter to our family’s values on dealing with people today with regard. Carson is quite sorry and accepts complete responsibility for his habits.”

NYC Catholic College Allegedly Overlooked Racist Bullying From 11-12 months-Old Black Girl

Saturday’s incident is not the initial time Brière has been in very hot drinking water with his collegiate group. He was kicked off Arizona Point out University’s hockey crew as a redshirt freshman for remaining a serial partier, he informed Higher education Hockey News. Mercyhurst was likely to be his next likelihood.

“I was just likely out I was not getting hockey severely,” Brière said in 2021 about his launch from ASU. “It wasn’t just about anything undesirable, it was just not staying fully commited to hockey, I was a lot more fully commited to acquiring enjoyable at faculty. Way too substantially partying, that’s likely the very best way to put it.”

The wheelchair’s plunge resulted in a broken armrest and other parts bent, FOX 59 documented.

Benes did not react to interview requests from The Day by day Beast.

Nearby news experiences suggest that Brière was promptly recognized as the man or woman driving the force on Saturday evening. “I grabbed him on the shoulders and explained, ‘I’ve obtained video clip of you tossing a wheelchair down the methods, like it’s time to go,’” Sanders explained to WJET.

Sullivans, the place the incident transpired, was built in advance of the People in america with Disabilities Act was signed into regulation in 1990, Sanders claimed, and was thus grandfathered in to have only initially-flooring bathrooms and no elevator. He explained protection has to have anybody down the stairs and back again up if they require to use the toilet but simply cannot make the journey on their have.

Sanders also discovered the second particular person who appeared to help Brière force the wheelchair as Patrick Carozzi, a lacrosse player at Mercyhurst.

No prison expenses have been announced by law enforcement in Erie for either athlete, while Benes’ GoFundMe states she filed a police report this 7 days.

Study far more at The Each day Beast.

Get the Daily Beast’s most significant scoops and scandals sent appropriate to your inbox. Indicator up now.

Continue to be educated and achieve unrestricted obtain to the Everyday Beast’s unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.