3-Year-Old Gets Kicked Out of a KFC

[Greenday]

Annnd it looks like it was a con by grandma.

Family is still trying to play along with the whole thing. Not surprising considering how much money they made off the affair.

[EricKei]

GK is correct -- it was all made up. However, KFC is apparently going to go forward with their promise to help with the medical bills anyway.

[Panacea]

I think there is more to this story. When the grandmother mentioned that she is on a feeding tube, but she thought that a little mash potatoes would do no harm, it reminded me of when my son was born. He was premature by 2 days and put on a feeding tube for the first night of his life and I was not allowed to feed him. When I asked why not, I was informed that then bacteria would form around the tube that can cause an infection and that I could feed him once the tube was removed.

I know I'm coming in late on this one, and I know the story was a con. But I wanted to answer this question.

Neonates, especially preemies, have immature immune systems. Breast milk and formula have high sugar contents, which encourage bacterial growth.

Toddlers are a different story. Their immune systems are functioning fully, unless they have a disease that impairs it. Depending on why they get the tube in the first place, many of these youngsters (including this one I'm sure) will eventually eat by mouth again.

I took care of a similar toddler when I worked in home health care: she was born with tracheoesophogeal fistula and had a trach and a feeding tube. Part of my job was to monitor her tube feeding while she slept at night. Her doctor was trying to wean her off the tube and onto regular food, but she wasn't cooperating. She'd eat chips, cheetos, and other junk food but not real food.

Mom was frustrated; kid wanted to learn to swim that summer and the doc would not authorize a reversal of the trach until the kid was eating regular meals. I told Mom she wasn't hungry enough: stop the tube feeding at night, and wait for her to get hungry and she'd clean her plate every time.

Mom agreed to try it and next thing we knew she was both eating regular meals all day, sleeping all night without the feeding, and gaining weight.

And I was out of a job. I wasn't needed anymore

[Rageaholic]

GK is correct -- it was all made up. However, KFC is apparently going to go forward with their promise to help with the medical bills anyway.

I guess that's good. Too bad it's for the wrong reasons.

[Jester]

Really? With all the stupidity, vile behavior, and mean spiritedness in the world, what makes you think that there HAS to be more? My experiences with people leave me unsurprised with this situation, and perfectly willing to accept it went down as told.

And my experiences with people also leave me unsurprised that this was a con. It may something about my level of jadedness and cynicism that I would have been unsurprised no matter which way this fell.

GK is correct -- it was all made up. However, KFC is apparently going to go forward with their promise to help with the medical bills anyway.

While few would blame them if they didn't, since it had been under false pretenses, I must commend KFC for this move. They are really under no obligation to provide for this child, but having made the commitment, they are going to follow through, and that is pretty awesome. I know, of course, that they look great doing so, so it is a lot of good PR for them, but no matter the reasons, I am glad they are doing this. Because whatever the grandmother did or didn't do, the only thing the little girl did was get injured. And I'm glad to see that she's gonna get the medical attention she needs.

And I was out of a job. I wasn't needed anymore

Best reason I've heard for losing a job in a while!

[HYHYBT]

The trouble is that it will encourage similar cons. How many are KFC willing to pay?

[eltf177]

I was hoping this was a legitimate complaint even though it sounded off from the start. But the family keeps changing their story ("Grandma got her facts wrong") and hiding behind their lawyer which leads me to believe the whole things a scam. Especially as KFC can find no proof the family was even _in_ a KFC at all.

I hope the authorities take a close look at this and level charges against the family if their claims against KFC are proved false...

[Jetfire]

The trouble is that it will encourage similar cons. How many are KFC willing to pay?

Probably on a case by case basis. If a similar situation comes up again, they may just keep quiet about any potential payouts until after the investigation is done so they can keep the purse closed.

In this case, they decided to do a donation ahead of the full story coming out (probably as damage control), and pulling it back now would burn them worse than any potential copycat attempts would.

Especially since any copy attempts would be compared to this immediately once it goes public, so they would be gone through with a VERY fine toothed comb, both officially and in the eyes of the public.

[TheHuckster]

Especially since any copy attempts would be compared to this immediately once it goes public, so they would be gone through with a VERY fine toothed comb, both officially and in the eyes of the public.

And for that reason, I see it troubling from the other perspective: Now that this has happened, any actual legitimate incidents where someone was wronged by a establishment through insensitivity, bigotry, or discrimination will be preemptively dismissed by the public and media, regardless of whether it was true or not.

[anakhouri]

Who thinks, "My precious grandchild has been mauled by dogs and will be scarred for life. Let's make some cash off this!" I think that's why I was so willing to believe this at first- who thinks that way?

They might have overwhelming medical bills but good God, have some fundraisers or contact a local news channel or something. Don't make up lies and subject a toddler to media scrutiny. What a horrible woman.

[EricKei]

who thinks that way?

Incredibly desperate people. Incredibly immoral people. People in incredible amounts of emotional distress who saw an opportunity and ran with it without thinking. Incredibly uncaring people who see their child, not as a person, but as a means to an end. And so on.

I don't know the family involved, but my guess is that at least one of those applies in some way. More likely a little of A and a little of B.

I feel sorry for the kid, though, either way.

[mathnerd]

And for that reason, I see it troubling from the other perspective: Now that this has happened, any actual legitimate incidents where someone was wronged by a establishment through insensitivity, bigotry, or discrimination will be preemptively dismissed by the public and media, regardless of whether it was true or not.

This is what upsets me the most. Two of my boys have a disease that's nicknamed "bumpy bones". The results of the disease are sometimes highly visible, as the growths can not only grow large enough to be seen from the outside, but can cause significant skeletal deformities. Treatment often times involves surgery, which of course leaves nasty scars. This link gives a reasonable description, though only talks about the average case. Severity can vary wildly, even among family member.

As a mother who's watched her own children struggle with the funny looks and nasty comments from total strangers, I'm absolutely sickened that somebody could make up a story like this just for financial gain.