The Hindu : Front Page : They sell, yet now get to keep it all

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Sunday, Feb 01, 2009
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They sell, yet now get to keep it all

ATLANTA: It started as a family joke: facing snowballing medical expenses for their two young disabled children, Gregg and Brittiny Peters quipped they might need to sell everything they owned to stay solvent. As the bills tipped $10,000, however, the idea was no longer funny.

So on Thursday, the Georgia couple accepted a winning $20,000 eBay bid for all their belongings minus their house. It came with one catch. The winning bidders, Donnia and Keith Blair of Texas, want the family to have the money, but keep their stuff.

Seems like the perfect happy ending, except the Peters do not want the money. They say the whole idea was to start over, not take a handout.

Out of hands

The decision is out of their hands, the Blair couple say.

“They’ve worked really hard to get those things and we’re in a position to help them,” Ms. Blair said.

The Peters’ lives and finances changed dramatically last April, when their two-year-old son Noah was diagnosed with autism and with sensory and gastrointestinal disorders. Then in the summer, doctors diagnosed their 7-year-old daughter Ayla with juvenile arthritis. They have a one-year-old son, Eli.

Treatment for the two older children costs $2,000 a month and the Peters are carrying a $1,400 mortgage on their house, said Ms. Peters, a stay-at-home mom whose husband runs a tennis academy for school students.

Kindness

The Peters said they will accept the money from the Blairs, but want to pass along the kindness to others. They are considering making donations. — AP

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