A burglar left a British mother devastated after she ran off with more than $ 5,000 in Christmas presents – including gifts for her disabled toddler.
That’s until kind-hearted strangers came to the rescue, according to a report.
Courtney Farnell, 21, had been scraping throughout the year to give her 16-month-old daughter the “best Christmas a mother could give,” but instead walked into a ransacked house on Christmas Eve, The Sun reported.
“We came through the front door,” Farnell told the newspaper. “I got Minnie out of the car and moved closer to the house. I could see all my belongings everywhere. “
“All the presents were gone,” she said. “Everything I got for my family, for my daughter.”
‘They didn’t just steal from me. They stole from my daughter. “
Courtney, who lives in Leeds in Northern England, said she took her little girl on a 30-minute drive late Wednesday to calm her down, and returned home around midnight on Thursday to find that thieves had raided her home.
The gifts stolen included new Xbox and PlayStation consoles, a laptop, camera, and presents for her little girl, Courtney said on a GoFundMe page she set up.
“I’m completely heartbroken, we don’t even know how much Christmas we’re having with Minnie,” she wrote. She has brain damage, epilepsy, developmental delays and a lot more. All I wanted was a great Christmas for her. “
“I did everything I could to make this Christmas special for her and I have nothing left.”
Her request for help did not go unnoticed.
By Christmas morning, her fundraising page had raised more than $ 4,000 – more than double the amount she had requested.
“I want to thank everyone who helped and donated,” she told The Sun. ‘It made our Christmas. It saved our Christmas. “