Woman Turns to Facebook to Find Little Girl Who Was Fat Shamed at Fair

Kate-Lynn Edwards at the Porter County, Indiana fair on July 25 (with fiance Nick Holley), where she witnessed a young girl being body shamed. (Photo: Kate-Lynn Edwards/Facebook) 

A chance encounter with a pony-tailed girl who was publicly body shamed at a local fair in Indiana has left one woman desperately searching for the girl, and she’s taken to Facebook to find her.

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Why does she want to get in touch with her so badly? To tell the girl how beautiful she is, and to apologize for not stepping in when she watched her being teased for her weight while getting on a ride.

“I witnessed a few girls being very mean to you, and I wanted to get out of my seat and reprimand them as I sat there and smiled at you instead, not taking action,” Kate-Lynn Edwards, from Roselawn, Indiana, wrote in a post partially addressed to the girl the next day.

“If you read this, I wish I could meet you, and be your friend,” wrote Edwards in her July 26 post, which has racked up more than 4,200 shares. “I witnessed you not have fun on that ride, you had the same blank and saddened look when the ride started as when it ended. I saw your bright smile walking on the ride that disappeared because of those girls.”

Edwards, 27, was at the fair in Porter County, Indiana, on July 25. While waiting on line to get on a swinging ride called the Feuerball. Edwards noticed a brown-haired girl with a long ponytail who was getting on the ride.

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The girl was having a hard time fitting in the seat because of her weight. After the girl’s mom helped strap her in, she and the girl rode the feuerball together—but not before two other girls also on the ride began making jokes.

“Once her mom helped her up you could hear one of them say something and then two girls laughed really, really loud and then the young lady that I’m searching for, her face just looked devastated and so sad,” Edwards told local news station Fox 59.

Edwards felt a connection to the girl because when she was growing up, she too was shamed for her weight, she said. She’s now a professional wrestler, and it pains her to see girls being made to feel bad about their size — so much so that she’s considering launching an organization that encourages girls to embrace body love.

“I don’t know what I can do to erase last night’s experience from you, but whatever I can do to reach you and show you your worth, I will do,” wrote Edwards. “[The girls] were mean to you regarding your body, I need you to know — don’t listen to them.”

Edwards’ post hasn’t yet led her to the girl. But it has netted her dozens of heartfelt responses from women who were touched by the girl’s experience, Edwards told Fox 59. And it calls into question what other adults should do if they find themselves witnessing similar body shaming or bullying behavior.

“When people watch someone be shamed without stepping in, they’re sending the message that bullying is okay,” Amy Morin, psychotherapist and author of 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do,” tells Yahoo Parenting.

“In situations where it’s physically safe to intervene, speaking up could put an end to shaming fast,” says Morin. “An indirect approach involves asking the victim, ‘are you all right?’ or ‘are these people bothering you?’ Sometimes that can redirect the attention and put an end to the problem.”

If the body shaming has escalated and the victim might be in physical danger, consider speaking directly to the perpetrators, even if you feel awkward addressing young kids with a strong tone. Saying “stop saying hurtful things’ or "quit making fun of other people’ is simple and effective, says Morin.

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