Joan Naydich: Teacher's aide battered by six-foot-six teen over Nintendo Switch gets $60K on GoFundMe
PALM COAST, FLORIDA: Joan Naydich, who was viciously beaten by a 270-pound student named Brendan Depa for taking his Nintendo Switch, says the response to her GoFundMe page has left her feeling "overwhelmed." The 57-year-old Naydich, who was assaulted on February 21 at Matanzas High School, has further denied taking the gaming console from him.
Deepa, 17, stated to the police that his outburst was allegedly triggered after his Nintendo Switch was taken away by Naydich, a teaching assistant at the school. Naydich has now refuted this assertion, stating that it was "misinformation" and that she "wanted to set the record straight." Court documents state that the Seventh Judicial Court of Florida ordered Deepa would be transferred to adult court, and he is currently being held on a $1 million bond and charged with aggravated violence, according to Daily Mail.
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'Overwhelmed with the idea of the long fight ahead'
Jessica White Leon, who has known Naydich for the past six years, created the GoFundMe campaign. Together they were brought by their children, who are bowlers for the same Matanzas High School team. On Tuesday, February 28, a brief update was posted to the GoFundMe page, stating that Naydich felt "truly grateful" for the support she had gotten since the tragedy.
There have been over 1,000 donations made thus far, coming very close to the $80K goal by over $74K donations made up to this point, and the teaching assistant claimed she was "Overwhelmed with the idea of the long fight ahead." Naydich continued, "Your contributions are lessening that burden and I'm truly grateful!"
Naydich stated, "I'm hopeful that the awareness of this incident being spread far and wide will prevent anyone else from ever dealing with the trauma, physical healing and disruption of everyday life that this has caused. It's touching to know that so many care. This certainly wasn't how I saw my son's senior year turning out for our family."
Naydich argued in favor of her denial that she took the Nintendo Switch as she stated, "For all you keyboard warriors, I just want to set the record straight. I never took the Nintendo Switch from him. From anyone that's read or heard differently, I've been told this was unfortunately misinformation."
"As the process continues, there will be many updates along the way! Your thoughts and prayers through all of this are appreciated more than you know," Naydich concluded. Several people have written supportive messages on the GoFundMe page since the update.
UPDATES: The 17 yr old student will be tried as an adult, charged with felony aggravated battery with bodily harm. and is now being held on $1M bond. Court records shows that the teenager had a history of violence. The paraprofessional Joan Naydich is a 57-year-old single mom of… https://t.co/ydEaiPCj9A pic.twitter.com/bYzngkZLaU
— DeL2000 (@DeL2000) February 28, 2023
'Hopefully this tragedy will help bring about changes'
One person wrote, "I am so sorry to hear about this tragic event you went through. No one, especially someone who chooses a career to help and support students, should have to go through this! Thinking of you and hoping for a speedy recovery!" Another person wrote, "My wife is a teacher... thank you for all you do... hopefully this tragedy will help bring about changes that are so desperately needed."
"I’m a retired special education teacher and I could not have done my job without the help of the wonderful paras who worked alongside me. I am horrified and yet not surprised by what happened to you. I’m praying that you will heal quickly from the trauma and pain of your ordeal," one more person wrote. Several others expressed their sympathy and best wishes for a quick recovery.
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