A young Australian boy named Quaden Bayles went viral when his mum shared a video showing him crying and threatening to commit suicide as a result of incessant bullying he's suffered over his dwarfism (read here).
Yarraka Bayles shared the video to raise awareness about bullying and its effect on children.
After her video went viral, Quaden, who his mum says is 9 years old, received an outpouring of love from all over the world. American actor Brad Williams, who was born with the same condition as Quaden, raised over 250,000 Dollars for Quaden. Also, Quaden was invited to lead an All-Star Rugby team onto the field for their next match.
As the support poured in for Quaden, some social users began claiming Quaden is actually 18 and not a 9-year-old schoolboy as his mother claims. They shared old photos from his Instagram account apparently showing Quaden holding up wads of cash and wearing expensive clothes. They also added that his now-deleted captions on Instagram allegedly stated his age was 18.
This led to confusion as some wondered if they have been scammed.
However, supporters of Quaden took to Twitter to trend the hashtag #HeIs9 and #IStandWithQuaden. Some shared photos and videos to prove Quaden is actually 9. Others pointed out that his mother never said they were suffering and in need of money but only said he was a victim of bullying, and as such couldn't have been trying to scam people of their money.
Following the scam allegations, Brad Williams who raised money for Quaden tweeted: "The love you have shown is unbelievable. Thank you! Money donated will not be wasted! We have a team of people making sure everything is completely legitimate. We thank you for your generosity and patience while we make sure all this is done the right way."
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Below are some tweet reactions :
