Quaden Bayles was born with achondroplasia a common form of dwarfism. Since his diagnosis, Yarraka Bayles became an advocate for indigenous issues and disability awareness.
What We Know:
- Yarraka said that she went to pick up her son from school last week and she had witnessed another student picking on Quaden for his height. While returning to the car a frustrated Yarraka filmed her son whose face is covered with tears in order to take action against those who were bullying her son.
- Yarraka said in a Facebook Live video: “I’ve just picked my son up from school, witnessed a bullying episode, rang the principal, and I want people to know – parents, educators, teachers – this is the effect that bullying has…All it takes is for one more instant. You wonder why kids are killing themselves.”
- Yarraka said that her son’s teasing was so constant that he often thought about killing himself. In the video, Quaden can be heard saying, “Give me a knife I want to kill myself.”
- The video has been viewed 25 million times and a lot of celebrities have been showing support including US comedian Brad Williams. Williams, who calls himself a part-time dwarf, launched a GoFundMe Page to raise money for both Quaden and his mom to attend Disneyland. On Friday, the page had raised about $400k.
- Another celebrity that donated to the online campaign was actor Hugh Jackman.
- Since the video has gone viral, many conspiracy theorists have been questioning if the story was true. On Friday, Twitter user Jasmein Dowe tweeted in a now-deleted post that Quaden was not nine-years-old but was instead 18. Dowe said, “just so you know… he scammed everybody.. he’s 18.. has plenty of money and yeah everyone fell for it.” Following the false accusation, hundreds of thousands retweeted the post.
- Quaden’s Aunt Mundanara Bayles spoke to Buzzfeed saying, that Quaden is indeed nine-years-old and the party he attended was his cousin Galen’s 18th birthday party. Mundanara also said the family wasn’t looking for money, they were simply looking for advice. Quaden’s aunt also said the $475,000 that was raised for Bayles to go to Disney World will be going to charity.
According to NITV, since the viral video, Quaden has been removed from school and will likely be home-schooled. Yarraka also told NITV that she didn’t blame any specific child and she is urging schools to take more action to educate students and parents about the effects of bullying.
