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Insane Clown Posse send Christmas presents to girl who lost entire family in arson attack

'She has a family all over the world who will be there for her should she ever need us'

Sunday 13 December 2015 17:26 GMT

Hip hop duo Insane Clown Posse from Detroit, Michigan (Getty)

A hip hop duo has sent an eight-year-old burns victim some Christmas presents because her father, who died in the same fire that injured her, was a fan.

Insane Clown Posse, comprised of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler from Detroit, Michigan, made the gesture of kindness after Bruce saw a photo of arson survivor Safyre Terry with her father.

Safyre, 8, lost her entire family in an arson attack on their family apartment in New York in May 2013. In the fire, she was severely burned over the majority of her body, including her face, hands and feet.

She now lives with her aunt and legal guardian, Liz Dolder, who posted a message on Facebook earlier this month asking people to send Safyre Christmas cards to hang on a card tree.

Safyre Terry, 8, was the only survivor of the arson attack on her home (Safyre Schenectady's Super Survivor)

Bruce, also known as Violent J, told TMZ he saw a picture of Safyre with her father, and noticed a tattoo of the group’s album cover art on his forearm.

David Terry died protecting Safyre from the blaze. He was found by firefighters with his daughter hiding underneath him.

Meet the patients and doctors of GOSH

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1/9Meet the patients and doctors of GOSH

Meet the patients and doctors of GOSH

Elliott Livingstone

Two-year-old Elliott is a “cheeky” little boy who has a Thomas the Tank Engine sticker on his Berlin heart machine, which has kept him alive since his own heart failed eight months ago. Elliott has two tubes pumping blood around his tiny body. It keeps him alive but the machine has left him confined to the wards of Great Ormond Street Hospital until a new heart is found

Meet the patients and doctors of GOSH

Melissa Strickland

As the ward sister on Koala Ward, Melissa Strickland leads a nursing team with the challenging job of looking after children with craniofacial and neurological conditions. “You have to have all the skills and knowledge to do this job but personally for me you cannot do it unless you have passion but also compassion,” she said. “You don’t get used to the sad side of things but you do learn to manage it.”

Meet the patients and doctors of GOSH

Amy Willis

Amy Willis carries a discreet black medical bag everywhere she goes. It contains the cutting-edge HeartWare device that is keeping her alive. A smaller, more advanced version of the Berlin artificial heart, it was fitted in April after she was emergency airlifted to GOSH from Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool. The device means that 14-year-old Amy can be home in Flintshire this Christmas while remaining on the heart transplant waiting list. She is doing well but 15 per cent of patients with a HeartWare device or Berlin heart die while waiting for a new heart, so money raised by the appeal will also go to help researchers identify ways to keep children alive while they await transplant

Lucy Young

Meet the patients and doctors of GOSH

Myra Bluebond-Langner

Professor Myra Bluebond-Langner represents the vital work of the Louis Dundas Centre for Children’s Palliative Care, GOSH’s world-class centre dedicated to research and care for children with life-limiting illnesses. The LDC is named in honour of Louis Dundas, a four-year-old boy who died in “unspeakable pain” after suffering a brain tumour in April 2008. Its aim is to ensure that no child suffers unnecessarily in their final days. Money raised from The Independent’s Give to GOSH appeal will go to fund the team’s work to manage pain, and also fund vital research into palliative care in children across the whole of the UK. Professor Bluebond-Langner, who heads the research, said: “Paediatric palliative care is a relatively new field where practice has outstripped research. We look to change that.”

Meet the patients and doctors of GOSH

Finella Craig

Together with with Professor Myra Bluebond-Langner, Dr Finella Craig represents the vital work of the Louis Dundas Centre for Children’s Palliative Care, GOSH’s world-class centre dedicated to research and care for children with life-limiting illnesses. The LDC is named in honour of Louis Dundas, a four-year-old boy who died in “unspeakable pain” after suffering a brain tumour in April 2008. Its aim is to ensure that no child suffers unnecessarily in their final days. “One of the worst experiences for a family is to witness their child in pain and discomfort, and for them to feel totally powerless to do anything about it,” said Dr Craig, a consultant in paediatric palliative medicine at GOSH since 2002. Money raised from The Independent’s Give to GOSH appeal will go to fund the team’s work to manage pain, and also fund vital research into palliative care in children across the whole of the UK.

Meet the patients and doctors of GOSH

Rowan Pethard

Like most little boys, Rowan Pethard loves playing football. At the start of 2015 the seven-year-old Spurs fan baffled his doctors in Hemel Hempstead with a string of coughs, colds, tummy bugs, aches, pains and rashes. It wasn’t until quite late on that doctors discovered he had leukaemia. He spent two days in intensive care while he had emergency chemo. He has two years of follow-up treatment ahead. “He’s amazing, a little superhero,” his mum said. “It makes it easier for his father and I and his brother to cope.”

Joe Plimmer

Meet the patients and doctors of GOSH

Martin Elliott

Paediatric heart and lung surgeon Martin Elliott, 64, is one of the longest serving doctors at GOSH, leading groundbreaking research and treating thousands of patients over the past 30 years. His work has bridged the gap between surgery and research with skills ranging from heart-bypass surgery to correcting congenital lung disorders.

Meet the patients and doctors of GOSH

Ralph Frost

For Ralph the hardest thing about having to live at GOSH while he waits for a new kidney isn’t missing his toys. He has plenty of those and can terrorise the nurses by pushing his little red motorbike down the corridors of Eagle Ward. The hardest thing for the six-year-old is battling not to cry out during his nightly dialysis sessions. “It really hurts,” he said. “But the other kids are sleeping and I don’t want to wake them up.” Ralph suffers from nephrotic syndrome and is currently waiting for a kidney from his father, Nick. He’s called the kidney “Chase” and his parents, who have been trained to operate his dialysis machine, hope to be home by Christmas

Lucy Young

Meet the patients and doctors of GOSH

Lynsey Steele

The strongest praise for Lynsey Steele, 33, comes from the parents of the children she helps. “The children here wouldn’t get by without Lynsey,” said Ralph’s mother Amie Frost. “If she wasn’t here then we’d have cracked up.” Lynsey’s role, which is funded by the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and will be supported by The Independent’s Give to GOSH appeal, is to help children play and relax, but also to have the difficult conversations explaining their treatment

Ash Knotek

He was so moved he sent her cards, toys, Visa gift cards, and Insane Clown Posse-memorabilia, according to a post made by the group on their official website.

Bruce also requested for fans of the band, dubbed the ‘Juggalos’, send Safyre cards “so she knows that no matter what, she has a family all over the world who will be there for her should she ever need us”.

Since posting the appeal, Dolder, 43 and Safyre have received numerous gifts and cards from all over the world.

We are so forever grateful for everyone generosity. YOU ALL have just been so incredibly amazing.
Posted by Safyre Schenectady's Super Survivor on Friday, December 11, 2015

A suspect, Robert Butler, was charged in June 2013 with federal arson but the charges were later dropped.

According to first assistant US attorney for the Northern District of New York, Grant Jaquith, no one else has been charged since but an investigation is ongoing.

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