Mother posts heartbreaking video of son with dwarfism sobbing after being bullied: “I’m going to kill myself”

An Australian mother revealed the impact of bullying on her young son this week by posting a heartbreaking video of the boy sobbing and threatening to kill himself after an incident at his school. The 9-year-old boy was born with achondroplasia, the most common form of short-limbed Dwarfism, and his mom said he is constantly bullied, reports Australian media outlet SBS.

“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,” said Yarraka Bayles, the boy’s mother, in a live video posted to Facebook on Tuesday. “This is what bullying does.”

Her son Quaden is seen sobbing in the video while sitting in a car after the alleged bullying incident. As she speaks from behind the camera, the little boy interjects, “Give me a knife, I’m going to kill myself” as he sobs.

Bayles, who lives in the city of Brisbane, said that when she went to pick up her son from school that day she witnessed another student “patting him on the head and making fun of his height.”

She added that her son is bullied “every single day” he is in school or in a public place and exclaimed that the “anti-bullying sh**” isn’t “working.”

Quaden threatened to harm himself throughout the heartbreaking nearly 7-minute-long video. His mom explained that he had attempted suicide in the past.

“I’ve got a son that is suicidal almost every single day,” she said as he continued to cry. “I’ve got to constantly keep my eye on him because of the suicide attempts.”

Bayles said that while her family usually doesn’t share moments like these and tries to “be as strong and positive as possible,” she wanted to show the impact of constant bullying toward her son.

“So, can you please educate your children, your families, your friends, because all it takes is for one more incident and you wonder why kids are killing themselves,” she is heard on the video.

She ended the video explaining that more needs to be done in regard to disability awareness and education.

Bayles said each time a bullying incident happens she will be “doing a live video so that people know, so hopefully, we can make some changes so that this doesn’t happen to another family and hopefully we don’t lose another young, innocent life to bullying.”

The response to the video has been overwhelmingly positive as people and companies have been reaching out to the boy.

Quaden – you’ve got a friend in me. #BeKind @LokelaniHiga https://t.co/8dr3j2z8Sy pic.twitter.com/jyqtZYC953

— Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) February 20, 2020

The Indigenous #NRLAllStars are behind you Quaden! 👊🏽❤️ pic.twitter.com/52RLy8SrSd

— NRL (@NRL) February 20, 2020

Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) announced Wednesday on Twitter that Quaden was invited by the Indigenous team to lead them out before Saturday’s NRL All Stars game against the Maori team. The Indigenous NRL All Stars team also created a sweet video with players wishing him well that was posted Wednesday on Twitter.

Comedian Brad Williams created a GoFundMe account for Quaden and his family — aimed at sending them to Disneyland in the U.S. So far, the fundraiser has raised more than $90,000 for the cause.

Bayles did not respond to CBS News’ request for comment, but the family did post a statement through the Facebook group Stand Tall 4 Dwarfism, which lists Bayles as a team member and regularly posts about Quaden.

“Quaden’s feeling the love and now he needs a good rest,” according to the statement. “We are meeting with the appropriate people in power to make changes and make a stand against bullying.”

First published on February 20, 2020 / 8:57 PM

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