Vicky Thoms says she's no hero, that she'd have stepped in to help anyone.
What the 55-year-old from Rosedale did was try to break up a brutal beating of a transgendered 22-year-old at a McDonald's, which was captured on video and broadcast around the world on the Internet.
The person who shot the video, a McDonald's employee who has been fired, did not try to help, and in fact warned the suspects to leave because the police were on their way. Here is what Thoms told Sun reporter Erica L. Green (who also took the picture of her above):
"I knew she was clinging on to her life. ... I just keep seeing it over and over again. ... It's terrible that a human being had to go through that."
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Thoms said she watched the beating for about two minutes, "I couldn't take it anymore." She was afraid to intervene because she has a back injury. She also said she had no idea the victim was transgendered, but added, "It wouldn't have mattered."
"I think McDonalds should take responsibility for this," Thoms said. "I want to see every single one of their employees involved fired."
Of the video, she said, "It makes me sick to watch it. ... I'm not a hero, I would have done it for anyone. That's why I stepped in, they're going to kill her."