Harlem

Woman Nearly Killed in 2011 Shopping Cart Toss at NYC Mall Speaks on Forgiveness

NBC Universal, Inc.

A Manhattan philanthropist who was nearly killed by a shopping cart thrown from a parking garage in 2011 says the incident left her with a new outlook on life.

In an exclusive interview with the "Today Show" airing Thursday, Marion Hedges spoke about her long recovery as well as forgiveness towards the two boys, then 12 and 13, who tossed a shopping cart from the 4th floor at the East River Plaza Mall in Harlem onto Hedges.

Hedges was at the mall with her teenage son, buying Halloween candy for underprivileged children. Her son was not injured but the incident left her in critical condition and with permanent brain damage, she said.

"Some days I'd like to stay in bed with the covers up. But the reality is, it's a beautiful day, get going," Hodges told Sheinelle Jones. "I have been chosen to live for a reason. There must be a reason. So I choose life."

Three years ago, a jury awarded $45 million to Hodges in a lawsuit contending the mall's owner and security firm ignored complaints about kids turning it into a "mini war zone."

The boys who tossed the cart were sent to juvenile facilities and Hedges said was donating some of the money to a youth center so kids have better things to do than throw shopping carts when bored.

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