PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Family members of one of the teens who was attacked on a SEPTA train this week said they are proud of her for standing up to a group of girls who were harassing some younger boys, and they said if given the chance to do it over, she would do it again.
Mei Lu applauded her niece for her courage.
“As Asians, we always fall under the stereotype that we are silent, we are timid, but my niece has taught me a lesson. She stepped up!" Lu said at the Crane Community Center in Chinatown Friday.
“I don’t want to call her a victim. I want to call her a hero.“
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Lu shared some of what her niece endured before a crowd of mostly Asian community members, some carrying signs against hate and bullying.
“Her eyes were all swollen up. The white part all became bleeding," said Lu. "Inside organs. We checked for a concussion because her head was really smashed through the windows, kicked on the floor.”
The attack has been labeled a hate crime, but John Chin with the Chinatown Development Corporation said the issue is bigger than this one incident.
“There’s a problem in the school district [as] immigrant students from all countries experienced bullying and don’t feel safe," said Chin.
The attack on the girl who intervened was caught on video and went viral.
Lu says she was heartbroken when she watched it. She asked her niece if she could go back, would she do anything differently?
“She said, 'I would do the same thing. No matter if the boys are Asian, African-American, Caucasian, I’ll protect them because they are younger, they are weaker, and I am older,'" said Lu.
“Where she stepped up for other people, there’s no one stepping up for her.“
The Central High School senior was supposed to have a busy couple of weeks, but instead she’ll be recovering from the attack.
"In the next couple of weeks she had four face-to-face interviews with University of Pennsylvania, with other elite schools," said Lu.
"I don’t know how she can come out of this. That’s why I want to thank everyone for your support. She needed this.“
