‘Let The Baby Die’: Kindness Of Strangers Trumps Hateful Message

TOLEDO, OH — The sign vandalized with a despicable message is gone, and the generosity of strangers is taking out some of its sting for Toledo parents K.C. and Angela Ahlers. They’re raising money so their young son Randy James, whom they call R.J., can have a chance to live.

He was born July 9 with two rare disorders, one affecting brain development and triggered by the other, an often fatal genetic chromosome disorder. The medical bills have overwhelmed the parents, and their Toledo neighbors and friends have largely supported their various efforts to raise money so he can get the tests and treatment he needs.

The Ahlers are desperate. They have health insurance, but some of the tests R.J. needs have been denied as “not medically necessary” by their carrier. One geneticist wants $10,000 upfront. To get the word out about their son’s medical challenges and the money they need to scrape together for treatment, they posted a half-dozen signs outside of a Toledo mall.

“Stop asking for money,” someone wrote on one of the signs. “Let the baby die. It’s called Darwinism. Happy Holidays.”

The words were one more blow to the couple, who are racing against the clock.

Besides having rare agenesis of the corpus callosum, or AgCC, an underdeveloped brain, R.J. was also born with trisomy 9 mosaic syndrome. About 1,200 people in the world are living with the disorder, but most either die before birth or before they reach their second birthday.

“It shocked me,” K.C. Ahlers told Toledo news station WGTV of the vandalized sign. “I mean, it really shocked me that somebody would have that kind of cruelty.”

But, it turns out, kindness trumps hatred.

A GoFundMe campaign has soared beyond the original $20,000 goal to nearly $62,000 as of Wednesday evening, with tens of thousands of dollars donated — much given in amounts of less than $25 — in the days since news spread about the vandalized sign. The Ahlers started the crowdfunding campaign in early October.

“Wow!” Angela Ahlers wrote on GoFundMe. “I am so at a loss of words at the love pouring out over our son. This world of chaos that we live in needs more love. It’s time people realize that all lives matter … and if this little miracle can teach us all to love more and hate less, we can change the world.”

K.C. Ahlers said that although his initial reaction to the sign was one of rage, he and his wife want to send a different message.

“We want to raise our son to not reciprocate hatred,” he told WGTV. “We want to battle hatred with love. So we obviously know somebody that did this is disturbed, and we hope they get help. But we're going to keep taking your signs down as we see them because this town doesn't need hatred. This town needs love.”

The little boy has been to see at least 15 specialists in his short life, and his parents are consulting with doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital.

On Wednesday, R.J.'s parents cast a wider net.

“We are sending out a request to the medical community. Is there any doctor out there that has had a patient that has both AgCC and Tetrasomy 9 Mosaic syndrome,” Angela Ahlers wrote on the crowdfunding page. “We want to double our bet. Boston Children’s Hospital is interested in seeing R.J. but we want a backup just in case. Because of all of your generosity towards R.J., now we have choices to get him the best care! Love conquers all!”

The Ahlers call their son a “miracle.”

“This little miracle baby has fought this hard to get this far and we need the village to come together to help with the past and future medical bills. Because of how rare this is, he falls through a lot of the cracks with assistance from federal and local assistance programs,” his mother wrote on the crowdfunding page. “Our little boy R.J. is our world. Please help this miracle baby beat the odds and help us to get him the best medical help we can.”

If you’d like to help, go to GoFundMe, a Patch promotional partner.