Parents hit with $132k bill after boy’s ‘hug’
A BOY of five has landed his parents with a $132,000 (€115,000) bill after he knocked over a glass sculpture by hugging it.
The family were at a wedding reception where a glass and mirror sculpture was on display. CCTV footage shows the boy wrapping his arms around it while his mother, Shannon Goodman, and other adults sit chatting nearby.
The unnamed boy can be seen accidentally pulling it towards him, causing it to topple on to him. He then sheepishly looks towards his mother.
The accident last month at Overland Park community centre in Kansas damaged the back of the sculpture – called Aphrodite di Kansas City. Now, the artist Bill Lyons wants reimbursing for the money he claims he has lost because he cannot sell it. Ms Goodman has now been asked to pay for the sculpture – but has said she didn’t think it would be worth anything near that. She was stunned when she got a letter from the insurance company.
‘Clear accidents happen and this was an accident. I don’t want to diminish the value of their art. But I can’t pay for that,’ she told The Kansas City Star.
She explained that she was saying goodbye to the bride’s father when her son wandered off.
‘Maybe my son hugged a torso because he’s a loving, sweet nice boy,’ she said.