WATCH ABOVE: The cyberbullies who once targeted Mariah are now apologizing for their taunts.
TORONTO – A South Carolina mother is speaking out against cyberbullying after her two-year-old daughter recently became a target online.
Summerville‘s Mariah Anderson was born with Chromosome Two Duplication Syndrome, which affects her learning and motor skills.
WATCH: A family is shocked after a two-year-old’s photo became fodder for cyberbullies. Travis Rice reports.
Happy to share Mariah’s recent second birthday with the world, mother Kyra Pringle posted a picture of her daughter on Facebook. But she says her good intention was quickly buried by an avalanche of ill will toward her daughter after the image of Mariah went viral.
Pringle alleges that some of the comments were anything but complimentary and she has had enough.
“The smile that you guys think is funny or the smile that you guys are comparing to a leprechaun,” Pringle told NBC’s Travis Rice, “the things you guys are saying about my child, she’s not a monster, she’s real.”
“If you’re out there and you’re doing these things, and you think that it’s funny, it’s not funny,” Mariah’s grandmother, Linda Pringle, told WCBD. “This is actually a human being. This is a child; this is a baby.”
As of Monday, Pringle’s Facebook account was set to private. But at least one post was shared publicly on Sunday — a video from a stranger showing their support for Mariah.
Mariah’s family hopes to put this incident behind them and focus on spending time with their daughter.
“She’s just a joy, it’s a joy to have her right now,” her mother added.
However, since Mariah’s story first aired, she has been receiving lots of love and apologies.
One man who admitted he laughed at Mariah’s photo apologized to mom Kyra Pringle, saying he didn’t expect her to accept it.
Kyra is looking at the positive side of the whole situation.
“With this one negative comment I probably got like 30 positive comments,” Kyra told WCBD. “All I can say is thank you.”
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