Nikki Smith set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to take her 12- and 10-year-old daughters to Disney World, and even though her plea was shared more than 18,000 times on Facebook, she'd only received $18 and a lot of backlash.
“The press have made me out to be an awful person,” said Smith, who eventually deleted her page after her story made headlines.
Smith has since re-launched the GoFundMe page, which has raised about $650.
"I’m traumatized by the abuse and negativity I have received and only put this back up because a lot of people said I should,” Smith explains. “Online trolls are evil, I haven’t hurt anyone and I was only trying to fulfill my children’s dreams.”
Source: MamaMia/ Photo: Nikki Smith
Her GoFundMe explanation reads:
After the worst time and the twisted story the newspapers told about me I was prompted to put my page back up , I feel this to be the only way I can speak out ,because I have lost all faith in reporters, I will never believe half of the stories I read in the papers now ,.I am not a bad person :( ..I also am not asking people for their hard earned money , people have a choice, if I had lied and said one of my children was ill when they weren't to raise money I could have understood the backlash but I was totally upfront and honest :( .. you can't win in his world ..I made this page because a few people I know told me they had funded their travel in this way and I thought well I can at least try , I never expected any donations I didn't even think people would see it , as I didn't even share it to my Facebook page . I never knew it had been shared so many times until a reporter rang me , I then took it down straight away, I need to add that i did not sell any story and have received no money from any of the newspapers , they took my photos without consent and twisted words .my children , family or anybody knew that I set up this page ( well they do now ) and yes I should have thought about it more before I opened it but it's too late now . i did read it back after and yes I agree it did sound cheeky , but I am very clumsy and if was going to happen to anyone it would have to be me ! I love my children and my job , I'm a carer and I havent been able to get anymore hours at work , nights are not easy to come by , i have gone into a 0 hours contract , I do try . the press have made me out to be a awful person when I was only thinking of my children and making them happy .I have never used go fund me before so I should have looked into it more. I have used the just giving website and I completed race for life last year , in memory of my much loved close relatives. I thought this section of the website was for funding hopes , dreams and wishes, and I believed go fund me was a chance to raise money for anything,I looked in the category and a lot of people were doing similar things , even raising money for breast enhancements and cars , I never meant to upset anyone .I'm traumatised by the abuse and negativity I have received and only put this back up because alot of people said I should. I won't let anyone bully me into taking it down ...Online trolls are evil , I haven't hurt anyone and I was only trying to fulfil my children's dreams .thankyou to all who have been so kind to me. XI will not be shamed because I wanted to do more for my children ..This is my original story xx I have been blessed with the most amazing , kind , loving and caring daughters , they are my best friends and my life , my girls are 10 and 12They are so helpful , animal loving and rays of sunshine , I want to show them how much I appreciate and love them , I work 2 nights a week at our local hospital as this is all I am able to do ATM because of childcare and contract hours.They watch a lot of YouTube videos where children are surprised by their parents with a holiday to disneyworld and they even get tears in their eyes watching it , they love anything Disney and I know that I would never be able to get them there on my own , by the time I save up they would be to old to enjoy it :( We lost 2 very special people in our lives these past couple of years and this really would give them so much