New York Yankees/Twitter(NEW YORK) — Members of the New York Yankees stood up in support of a 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl on Wednesday after the fourth-grader made a public plea to end bullying.
Cassidy Slater bared her heart to the world in a Facebook video shared on April 4, holding up a series of handwritten signs that explained what she felt like after being bullied for more than three years.
“One day during recess, a group of kids grabbed my purse off a teacher, and spit on it and me,” one sign read. “The group of kids always come up to me during recess, trying to fight me.”
“Kids don’t even want to go near me,” she added.
The video, shared on her mother’s Facebook page, had racked up thousands of shares and reactions as of Wednesday night, when the Yankees responded.
“Hey Cassidy — we saw the video you made and from all of us here at the New York Yankees, we want you to know that you are not alone. We have your back,” the team wrote on Twitter.
The team also shared a nearly two-minute video featuring several players holding handwritten signs.
“We know sharing your story must have been difficult, but you showed courage and strength and inspired us to reach out to you,” the team wrote in the video. “We may be older than you, we may be taller than you, but we want you to know that we look up to you. You are not alone!”
“Count the New York Yankees among your friends! You can sit next to us at lunch anytime.”
Cassidy’s father, James Warner, told ABC News that the video “devastated” him.
“I don’t know how to explain how it made me feel,” he said, adding, “Even talking about it I get choked up.”
Cassidy’s mother, Jenn Slater, reposted the video to her own Facebook page after it was removed from Cassidy’s account because of age restrictions.
“I will be my daughter’s voice. I will share her story and I hope others will share too,” Slater wrote in a post. “Her story reached 22k views before the Scranton School District contacted Facebook and her Facebook got shut down.”
“This isn’t about the shares or views or if it goes viral. It’s about spreading awareness,” she added.
Alexis T. Kirijan, superintendent of the Scranton School District, told ABC News in an email that “the district cannot share student personal information. Please understand you are hearing only one side of this story. The school is and has been working very closely with this young lady and her father.”
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