KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One Kansas City Royals fan feels like she is being punished for the good deed of others.
Joyce Jeter has a debilitating medical condition, causing her to rely on Social Security as her only source of income.
Royals fans rallied around her to raise money to send her to a game at Kauffman Stadium, but now that gift is leaving her financial future in jeopardy.
Joyce told Fox4KC she feels like she’s being robbed all because she accepted a gift.
“All growing up and everything, even up to today, I get made fun of all the time,” Joyce explained.
Joyce’s life has been anything but easy.
She has an incurable disease called neurofibromatosis that causes her to have visible tumors all over her body.
One tumor on her thigh turned out to be cancerous, and her leg had to be amputated.
“I’m in constant pain all the time,” Joyce explained. “It prevents me from doing some things.”
Joyce is unable to work and must draw her income from Social Security.
While she faced many battles, she remained positive.
There was one thing she loved, however, that always seemed just out of reach: the Royals.
“I never got to go to a game, a playoff game or a World Series game or anything like that because I can’t afford it,” she said.
One day she posted on a Royals fan page about her dream to go to a game. She said she almost immediately regretted it, as people started bullying her.
“I got kind of made fun of, and smart remarks about my disorder and stuff, and saying, ‘what is that? she needs to take her mask off,'” she said.
A few fans saw the post and decided to create a GoFundMe page to get Joyce to a game. The page ended up raising more than $3,700, and Joyce got to see her boys in blue.
“It was just awesome being there. I mean, it was just a feeling like, ‘God, this is like, maybe heaven,'” Joyce laughed.
But now that feeling is costing her: Joyce’s Social Security is being taken away.
She received letters from Social Security notifying her she was supposed to tell them about the GoFundMe, and now they’re going to take the money out of her Social Security checks.
“I’m troubled and stuff, because I can’t afford to lose that $176 a month.”
Now she doesn’t know what to do.
“Actually, it’s like taking food out of my mouth.”
Joyce is looking to speak to Legal Aid about her options and is hoping for a positive outcome.
