Parents are hit with $132,000 bill after their five-year-old knocks over a glass sculpture while 'hugging' it

  • Shannon Goodman's five-year-old son knocked the sculpture over on May 19 
  • It was being displayed at a community center in Kansas City, Kansas 
  • Afterwards, she received a letter from the city's insurance company 
  • It valued the artwork, which has pieces of glass and mirror on it, at $132,000
  • Goodman said she will not pay that and insists it was simply an accident 
  • The artist says he wants what is owed to him because the  piece is now damaged 
A boy's parents have been hit with a $132,000 bill after he accidentally knocked over a glass sculpture by hugging it. 
The boy was at a wedding reception at Overland Park community center in Kansas City, Kansas, where Aphrodite di Kansas City, a glass and mirror sculpture, was on display on May 19. 
Surveillance footage shows him toddling up towards it and wrapping his arms around it while his mother Shannon Goodman and other adults chat on sofas nearby. 
He accidentally pulled it towards him and it toppled over on to him, causing damage to the back of the figure's head and arms. 
It left him with scratches on his face. In the video, he sheepishly looked towards his mother after the accident. 
He pulled it towards him and was overpowered by its weight 
He pulled it towards him and was overpowered by its weight 
With the statue on the floor, the boy rolled out from under it and got to his feet
With the statue on the floor, the boy rolled out from under it and got to his feet
He then ran away as his mother approached to see what had happened 
He then ran away as his mother approached to see what had happened 
Now, the artist Bill Lyons wants to be reimbursed for the money he says he has lost because he can't sell it. 
He estimated its worth to be $132,000. 
Lyons had loaned the sculpture to the city of Overland Park to put on display. It was the city's representatives who contacted Goodman asking for her to pay. 
She had expected the sculpture to be much less valuable and was stunned when she received a letter from the city's insurance company. 
'It’s clear accidents happen and this was an accident. I don’t want to diminish the value of their art. But I can’t pay for that,' she told The Kansas City Star.  
She explained that she was saying goodbye to the bride's father when her son wandered off towards the statue but insisted he and his three siblings, who were also there, are always well behaved.
'He probably hugged it. 
'Maybe my son hugged a torso because he’s a loving, sweet nice boy who just graduated from preschool.'
This is the sculpture the boy knocked over. It is called Aphrodite Di Kansas City and is made of glass and pieces of mirror. The artist says the top of it was damaged when he pulled it over
This is the sculpture the boy knocked over. It is called Aphrodite Di Kansas City and is made of glass and pieces of mirror. The artist says the top of it was damaged when he pulled it over
Stunned: The boy's mother, Shannon Goodman, said she was shocked by the value of the artwork 
Stunned: The boy's mother, Shannon Goodman, said she was shocked by the value of the artwork 
A spokesman for the city of Overland Park said it had filed a claim with Travelers, its insurance company. 
'The city has a responsibility to file a claim with our insurance company, and we do that any time city property is damaged. 
'It will be up to the insurance companies to get this worked out,' they said. 
Lyons, the artist, said: 'I want to be reimbursed for the amount of time that I spent on it and for what I think it is worth.'  

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