Photo: Sylvain Gaboury/PMC
Odd Mom’s Out’s Jill Kargman revealed that sheunderwent a preventive double mastectomy, and the recovery period became more painful as she dealt with incidents of anti-Semitism at her son’s New York City school.
The writer and actress, 44, wrote an essay about her experienceforTabletmagazine.
“The drains from my double mastectomy were flowing with a heinous Hawaiian Punch-esque blood-and-body-fluid combo, and I was in tremendous pain. Little did I know I was about to be in so much more, but in a shadowed fog of a worse anguish: The amorphous, harder-to-heal ache of emotional pain,” Kargman started the story.
The mom of three said that her youngest son, 10-year-old Fletch, came home from school crying, and Kargman mistakenly thought that he was upset about her surgery.
“‘Honey, I’m going to be fine!’ I comforted him. ‘I did this surgery because I have that gene I told you about, so I know this looks gross but it’s actually making me healthy,’ ” she recalled.
But Fletch was actually in tears because a kid at school had said, “‘I’m a fan of Hitler! God sent Hitler down to kill the Jews because they nailed Jesus to the cross!’ ” Kargman said. She also explains that the classmate had previously told Fletch, who didn’t enjoy the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, “‘you just didn’t get it because you are a Jew and the show is made for Christians.’ ”
Kargman said that she was “running on Tylenol and pure rage,” and contacted the school to complain, but claims that all they did was ban the child from two field trips (and did not follow through on half of the ban).
RELATED VIDEO:Odd Mom OutStar Jill Kargman on Her SiriusXM Radio Show
Kargman heard that an older Jewish student had been talking about his sleep-away camp and another classmate asked, “‘Was it Auschwitz?’ ” but was not punished.
St. Bernards, the New York City school where Fletch previously went and which Kargman does not name in the essay, says in a statement that Kargman misrepresented the situation.
“St. Bernard’s condemns and does not tolerate anti-semitism. St Bernard’s condemns and does not tolerate racism, religious or sexual discrimination, or bigotry of any kind. We work hard to educate our boys and reinforce these shared values through formal curriculum initiatives and in our daily interactions. The school acts promptly when an issue arises. We are confident that our process assures that we carefully evaluate the nature of the alleged issue, assess the conduct and the individuals involved, and implement an appropriate response, including disciplinary action, that judiciously addresses the matter consistent with our school and community values. While we do not disclose publicly individual disciplinary actions with respect to our students, particularly as they are young children, the essay does not accurately or fully describe the underlying facts or the disciplinary actions taken.”
Kargman said that after she had her mastectomy drains removed, she decided to purchase books about the Holocaust and gift them to Fletch’s classmate.
After the school year ended, Kargman decided to enroll Fletch in another school for fifth grade.
source: people.com
