Tuesday 1 September 2009

I was badly caught there; fooled by an e-mail....

Some of the most pervasive e-mail hoaxes are ones about sick and/or dying children. We all want to help children, especially when cancer is involved. When help seems as easy as forwarding an e-mail, our conscience often trumps common sense.
I got it in Swedish, but I found the same e-mail in English as well.
The e-mail hoax;

"This is not a joke or chain letter as such but a beautiful poem, and a lesson for us to consider.
This poem was written by a terminally ill young girl in a New York Hospital. It was sent by a medical doctor - Dr. Yeou Cheng Ma. Please do what you can to help fulfill this young girl's dream by also reading what is in the closing statement AFTER THE POEM.



Have you ever watched kids
on a merry-go-round
Or listened to the rain
slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last
Do you run through each day on the fly
When you ask "How are you?"
do you hear the reply?
When the day is done,
do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last
Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow
And in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
'Cause you never had time
to call and say "Hi"?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast
Time is short
The music won't last

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through yourday,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away...
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO HELP THIS LITTLE GIRL. ALL FORWARDED E-MAILS ARE TRACKED TO OBTAIN THE TOTAL COUNT.
Dear All:
PLEASE pass this mail on to everybody you know. It is the request of a special little girl who will soon leave this world as she has cancer.
Thank you for your effort, this isn't a chain letter, but a choice for all of us to save a little girl that's dying of a serious and fatal form of cancer.
Please send this to everyone you know... or don't know. This little girl has 6 months left to live, and as her dying wish, she wanted to send a letter telling everyone to live their life to the fullest, since she never will.
She'll never make it to prom, graduate from high school, or get married and have a family of her own. By you sending this to as many people as possible, you can give her and her family a little hope, because with every name that this is sent to, The American Cancer Society will donate 3 cents per name to her treatment and recovery plan. One guy sent this to 500 people!!!!
So I know that we can send it to at least 5 or 6. Just think it could be you one day. It's not even your money, just your time!!! "PLEASE PASS ON AS A LAST REQUEST"
Dr. Dennis Shields, Professor Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology Albert Einstein College of Medicine "
The e-mail in Swedish ;
Detta är en dikt som har skrivits av en tonåring med cancer. Hon vill se hur många det är som förstår hennes dikt. Skicka dikten vidare. Flickan bor på ett sjukhus som heter New York Hospital. Dikten är skickad av en läkare på sjukhuset. Kom ihåg att läsa det som står EFTER dikten också.
Här är dikten:
Långsam dans
Har du aldrig sett ett barn på en karusell?
Eller lyssnat på regnets plask i marken?
Någonsin följt en fjäril till en ojämn flygning?
Eller tittat på solens inre natt?
Det är bäst att sakta ner
Inte dansa så fort
Tiden är knapp
Musiken kommer inte sist
Brukar du gå genom varje dag i flyg?
När du frågar hur du mår?
Hör du svaret?
När dagen är klar vill du ligga i din säng
Med nästa hundra sysslor som springer i ditt huvud?
Det är bäst att sakta ner,
Inte dansa så fort
Tiden är knapp.
Musiken är inte sist.
Aldrig sagt till ditt barn, så ska vi göra det imorgon?
Och i all hast, Och inte se sorgen
Någonsin förlorat kontakten, låtit en god vänskap dö.
Leda till att du aldrig haft tid att ringa och säga 'Hej'.
Det är bäst att sakta ner.
Inte dansa så fort.
Tiden är knapp.
Musiken kommer inte sist.
När du kör så snabbt för att komma någonstans.
Du missar halva nöjet av att komma dit.
När du oroar dig och skyndar dig genom din dag,
Det är som en oöppnad gåva .... kastas bort.
Livet är inte en ras.
Får ta det långsammare.
Lyssna på musik.
Innan låten är över
Översatt av: Vanessa Palermo
Skickade e-mail är spårade för att räknas.
Till Alla: SNÄLLA skicka det här mailet till alla du känner - även de som du inte känner. Det är önskan av en speciell tjej som snart lämnar denna världen och låter cancern tar över. Denna unga flickan har 6 månader kvar att leva, och som hennes sista önskan, så ville hon skicka ett brev som berättade att alla skulle leva sitt liv fullt ut, eftersom att hon aldrig kommer att göra det. Hon kommer aldrig att gå på sin bal, ta studenten, gifta sig eller skaffa en egen familj.
När du sänder detta till så många människor du känner så kan du ge henne och hennes familj lite hopp, eftersom till varje namn som detta är skickat till så donerar Den Amerikanska Cancer Föreningen 3 cent per namn till hennes behandling och tillfrisknandes plan. En kille skickade detta till 500 personer! Så jag vet att vi kan skicka detta till minst 5 eller 6 st. Det är inte ens dina pengar, bara din tid! Så skicka detta till alla dina kontakter och ge alla cancersjuka en bättre framtid
Summary of eRumor An email says there is a little girl who has six months to live. People are asked to forward the email about her to as many people as possible because the American Cancer Society will give 3 cents per email to support her treatment. It stars with a poem titled SLOW DANCE. The email is signed with the name of a professor at Yeshiva University in New York

The Truth: According to the American Cancer Society, the email is a hoax. The girl in the story is never identified, the American Cancer Society has not made any such commitment, there is no way for forwarded emails to be accounted for even if someone wanted to make a donation for each one, and the professor named at Yeshiva University, Dr. Dennis Shields, says he never had anything to do with any such story. If you dial his number, you get a recording saying the story is not true. There are several versions of this email making the rounds of the Net. Some simply say this is a poem written by a dying girl. Others say the little girl gave it to a medical student. Others say the poem is being circulated by a doctor.The poem is actually from the pen of psychologist and writer David L. Weatherford (www.davidlweatherford.com).

BUT THE POEM IS BEAUTIFUL ANYWAY.

1 comment:

SewCalGal said...

Thanks for increasing awareness about this hoax.

I also like to use www.SNOPES.com to verify if things are a hoax or not. Very useful tool.

SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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