GoFundMe tops $280k as Bill Ackman donates money to help teenage girl in critical condition after school fight

Kaylee Gain is now ‘fighting for her life’ in hospital with ‘major brain bleeding and swelling’

A GoFundMe page set up for a teenage girl who was left in a critical condition after she was viciously beaten just blocks from her high school has topped $280,000.

It comes after billionaire Bill Ackman donated $10,000 to the campaign launched earlier this week to support the 15-year-old victim, Kaylee Gain, and her family, a spokesperson for Pershing Square Capital Management said.

The donation was listed under the name “William Ackman”, while another person, David Humphreys, was also listed as a top donor, having donated $10,000 to the victim. Ms Gain is now ‘’fighting for her life’’ in hospital with ‘’major brain bleeding and swelling’’ after she was left to convulse on the ground following a brawl that broke out close to Hazelwood East High School in Spanish Lake, St Louis, on Friday afternoon.

A fundraiser for Kaylee Gain has topped $280k (Supplied)

Disturbing footage showed one girl being pushed to the ground before her head was repeatedly smacked on concrete until she stopped moving.

The video was posted to social media where the clip has been viewed at least 14 million times in the past three days.

St Louis County Police Department told The Independent that officers had arrested a 15-year-old girl on Saturday. She is being held by the St Louis County Family Court on assault charges.

Bill Ackman donated $10,000 to the GoFundMe for victim Kaylee Gain (AP)

Following the incident, over 6,000 people have donated to Ms Gain’s GoFundMe page to raise $282,904 for her medical bills.

“Every donation, big or small, will go directly towards easing these stressful days, allowing Kaylee’s family to be able to be there 100% for her day and night and help with the medical bills that they foresee,” a statement posted to the page reads.

The statement added that six days after the attack, Ms Gain was still in critical condition with “major brain bleeding” from a skull fracture and frontal lobe damage.

The teenager’s loved ones will not know the extent of her possible brain damage until she wakes up, the family friend behind the fundraiser added.

On Wednesday, Ms Gain’s parents expressed hope that she could recover.

“We are so grateful for the amazing medical staff who have been working tirelessly to give her the best possible chance at a full recovery,” the parents wrote in the statement that was shared on a second GoFundMe page that was launched by a family friend.

A viral video showed the moment a fight near a school in St. Louis left a teenage girl with critical injuries (The Post Millennial/X)

Missouri’s 44th attorney general, Andrew Bailey, called the attack “evil” and called for the suspect to be tried as an adult.

“This evil and complete disregard for human life has no place in Missouri, or anywhere. I am praying for the victim. The criminal should be charged and tried as an adult. If the victim dies, that offence should rise to a homicide,” he wrote in a statement posted to X.

In 2018, the Missouri legislature passed its first piece of “Raise the Age” legislation. This bill changed the standard age at which teenagers can be tried as adults, raising it from 17 to 18 years old. However, the state allows for children as young as 12 who are suspected of having committed a felony to be tried as adults at the discretion of the court.

John O’Sullivan, director of communications with St. Louis County Courts, told KSDK it is too soon to determine if the suspect will be tried as an adult.

He says a court hearing is expected to be held in the next few weeks.

Mr Ackman has not commented publicly about the incident. He recently made headlines after he called for Harvard president Claudine Gay to resign amid a firestorm of criticism over her response to the Israel-Hamas war and plagiarism accusations.