Boy In Viral Bullying Video Is A Child, Despite Online Rumors
This week, a young Australian boy became the focus of anti-bullying efforts, after a heartbreaking video went viral online. The emotional video shows 9-year-old Quaden Bayles react to being bullied, telling his mother that he wants to "die right now".
The young boy suffers from a form of Dwarfism called Achondroplasia.
In response to the video, comedian Brad Williams, who also has Achondroplasia, created GoFundMe campaign to send the boy to Disneyland.
From there, the story went viral. The reach of Brad Williams social media got the video in front of thousands. Many of the people who saw the video felt compelled to donate, which helped the effort quickly exceed its original goal. But it wasn't just donations that came in.
Celebrities from across the globe started reaching out, including Hugh Jackman...
The story seemed to have a happy turn with the donations, and celebrity response. But the internet will not allow for there to be happy endings. The internet needs to tear everyone down. Basically, the internet needs to be bullies.
Quickly the internet decided that this kid had to have malicious intent. There's no way he could be the victim of bullying. HE must be the bully.
So "internet detectives" got onto the Bayles' family's social media. They started saving screenshots, and putting picture collages together, and adding captions explaining that they've "cracked this case". They claim the boys is not a 9-year-old, but rather a 20-year-old model, or an 18-year-old actor. Without much citation, just a "trust me dude".
Well, with just a couple of quick Google searches, you can find plenty of evidence that Quaden Bayles is 9-years-old.
First, an Australian show called "Living Black" did a story on Bayles in 2015, posting it to Youtube in 2015, where they mention that Quaden is 4-years-old in the first few minutes.
But that wasn't the only video that you could turn up quickly. Quaden's story is a popular one in Australia. His family has been featured on Australian news multiple times, all advocating for Dwarfism awareness...
So to slow down those "internet detectives" for a minute, he's a child. He's facing battles you know nothing about on a daily basis. Sometimes good stories are actually good.