Toronto - A New York bus monitor who was relentlessly bullied by four middle school students has received more than $700 000 raised by a Canadian man.
Sixty-eight-year-old Karen Klein received the cheque at a ceremony on Tuesday in Toronto.
A spokesperson for the fundraising site Indiegogo said more than 30 000 people from 84 countries contributed to the fund. Their sympathies were stirred by a cellphone video of the June taunting uploaded to YouTube by a student on the bus.
The amount of money far exceeded the expectations of Max Sidorov, who started the drive with the goal of raising $5 000 to send Klein on vacation.
The video shows Klein trying to ignore a stream of profanity, insults and threats from the seventh-grade boys, who have been suspended.
The Greece, New York, grandmother has since retired. - Sapa-AP