Arson victim, 8, gets her Christmas wish

A post to Facebook sparked a viral campaign for Safyre. Photo / Facebook

Safyre Terry got her Christmas wish - cards from around the world.

Okay, to be a bit more exact, she got hundreds of thousands of them - including about 185,000 on Monday alone.

When Safyre was five, an arsonist set fire to the stairwell of her family's apartment in Schenectady, New York.

Her father was killed in the blaze, as were her younger sister and two younger brothers.

Safyre, who is now eight, suffered severe burns. Her foot and hand were eventually amputated, and she lost skin on her face.

Safyre before and after the fire that claimed her family's lives. Photo / Facebook

This year, Liz Dolder, Safyre's aunt and legal guardian, put up a Christmas card tree in their home in upstate New York. Safyre helped, Dolder said, and was eager to add a card to it. Safyre told her that she couldn't wait to fill it up, Dolder said. The aunt replied that she didn't think that was going to happen.

But then a viral card campaign began, after a photo of Safyre and the card tree was posted to the Safyre Schenectady's Super Survivor page on Facebook, and Dolder's friends helped.

It spread online, and cards poured in to the P.O. box that Dolder had opened - a box in "the smallest post office there is," she said.

Schenectady Postmaster John Reilly told ABC News that it took two two-tonne mail trucks - plus a rented cargo truck - to deliver Monday's haul alone. It was, Reilly told ABC, "the most mail we've ever gotten for a single person in Schenectady."

The postmaster said Safyre has received more than 300,000 pieces of mail this month.

"Well, they dropped off 185,000 yesterday," Dolder said Tuesday.

"Oh my gosh," she said. "Oh my gosh. And, you know, it's so touching. Some of the responses and the cards have been so touching."

The cards have come from all over - Brazil, Canada, Malaysia. And there are packages "in every room, all over the place," Dolder says. The haul includes a note from a child named Adrian, who also sent a teddy bear.

"I am five years old," the note said. "I live in Hong Kong. This is my favourite teddy bear. Let's be friends."

The family planned to send the stuffed animal back to Adrian, Dolder said, with a bear "friend" so that it's "not so lonely."

"To see them all come together to make one thing happen is just amazing," Dolder said. "It's breathtaking."

Pictures posted to Facebook show Safyre with bins full of cards, and clutching a giant teddy bear. She is "having a blast," according to one post, which also reads: "Joy, Joy, Joy."

"There's a lot of cards. You can't really comprehend until you're really in the midst of it," Dolder said. "Like, 'Holy cow.' "