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It's no secret anti-Asian violence has been on the rise in the United States since former President Donald Trump targeted the Asian community with racist rhetoric to distract from his administration's mishandling of the pandemic.
On Tuesday night, six Asian women were shot to death in Atlanta, Georgia by a White domestic terrorist. On Wednesday morning, an elderly Asian woman was attacked by a White man in the San Francisco Bay Area.
75-year-old Xiao Zhen Xie—or Zhenjie Xiao—fended off her attacker with a stick. The man who attacked her ambushed her on Market Street in the west-coast city, entirely unprovoked, after attacking an elderly man not far away.
Xiao can be seen in the video crying, holding an ice pack to her face. She said the attack left her traumatized.
Her grandson, John Chen, set up a GoFundMe for Xiao to cover medical and therapy expenses.
"She is now suffering two serious black eyes and one that is bleeding unstoppably. Her wrist has also swelled up. She has been severely affected mentally, physically, and emotionally."
"She also stated that she is afraid to step out of her home from now on. This traumatic event has left her with PTSD. Although she has health insurance that covers the basics, there are still many medical expenses that cannot be covered on her own."
The initial target of the GoFundMe was $50,000 to help Xiao get help not covered by her medical insurance.
Wonderfully, the GoFundMe has now raised over $870,000.
The Asian man the assailant also attacked was Ngoc Pham. 83-year-old Pham was attacked by the same man who later assaulted Zie.
Pham was hospitalized with a fractured nose, neck injuries and several bruises caused by the assault. A GoFundMe for him has also been set up by the Community Youth Center of San Francisco (CYCSF) on his behalf.
It states:
"Ngoc Pham, an 83 year old Vietnamese man, was shopping for groceries at the United Nations Farmers' Market when he was attacked on 7th and Market Street. Ngoc was one of two elderly Asians attacked by the same perpetrator at the same location."
"As a result of the attack, Ngoc sustained injuries with cuts and bruises on his head from the fall. Ngoc's nose was also fractured and doctor's are also ordering an MRI scan for fractures in his neck bones."
"It has yet to be determined how serious Ngoc's neck injuries are as doctor's are still evaluating them. Ngoc is still in the hospital and is in good spirits."
"Ngoc has always had a positive outlook on life as a result of him surviving 17 years in a Vietnamese concentration camp."
In an update it was shared that Ngoc Pham is now home with his family and will be reevaluated in 3-4 weeks.
In an update on Xiao's GoFundMe, her grandson shared:
"I first off I would like to express my biggest gratitude to Matt Haney—SanFrancisco Board of Supervisors representing District 6. He personally visited my Grandma today to show his support. I would also like to thank Phil Ting—California State Assembly member—for arranging one of his representative to translate the conversation between my Grandmother and Matt Haney."
"We are deeply touched by the fact that both of them took time out of their day to show their support. Once again Thank you Matt Haney, Phil Ting, and everyone that is showing their support to the AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) community."
"Regarding my Grandmother's current state. So far we still haven't notice any obvious improvement to her health."
"Her eye is still extremely swollen to the point that she still can't open her eye. It still bleeds from time to time."
"However, this isn't our biggest fear. Our biggest fear is her unstable mental health."
"During our visit she constantly repeated the phrase 'I'm so scared, I'm so scared' in Cantonese. She was having a mental breakdown, and she constantly needs to take medication to control her heart rate so it doesn't get out of hand."
"The scariest part was that she kept repeating that one of our relatives that have passed away recently is going to take her to heaven with her(my deceased relative). She is having pessimistic thoughts and hallucinations."
"Right now we will be arranging appointments with therapists. We are currently communicating with a doctor to arrange a time to get her checked up ASAP."
While no amount of money can reverse the violence done to these people, money can be extremely helpful to their medical and mental health costs to help them recover from this senseless, racist hate crime.