The tormented Australian boy at the centre of a heart-breaking viral video has accepted an invitation by one of Asia's most influential sports figures to train in MMA, which will apparently "bully-proof" him.
Nine-year-old Quaden Bayles courted international attention this week after his mother, Yarraka, captured him on camera talking about wanting to die due to the relentless bullying he was subjected to. Bayles was born with Achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism, and his mother has witnessed him being taunted at his Brisbane school due to his height.
The mother wanted to share the video to show the impact of bullying on a young child.
The video quickly went viral and received attention from the likes of actor Hugh Jackman and the NRL Indigenous All Stars.
Now, the young boy has taken up an offer of training in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) from one of the sport's biggest promoters.
Chatri Sityodtong, a martial artist, is the founder and chief executive of ONE Championship, Asia's largest global sports media property. It broadcasts to billions of people across 140 countries and holds events across several Asian countries. In 2019, he was named Asia's second most powerful person in sport by Fox Sports, which labelled him a "visionary entrepreneur".
Sityodtong sent a message to Bayles on Friday, acknowledging he was going through "incredible suffering and pain", but that one day he would rise above it with "strength and compassion and empathy".
He also offered an all-expenses-paid trip to Singapore to Bayles and his family. There, they could partake in a programme at Sityodtong's Evolve Mixed Martial Arts programme. The figure said it "bully-proofs kids".
Sityodtong said the boy could also go watch events to see how prominent sportspeople had overcome adversity.
Tweeting hours later, he said Bayles' mother had been in touch and accepted the invitation.
"Our instructors will be sure to bully-proof Quaden. If he wakes up from his nap, we plan to FaceTime tonight. Yarraka said that he might sleep through the night. If so, we will FaceTime tomorrow. Let us all take the opportunity to show little Quaden how much the world cares," he wrote.
Since the video was posted to Facebook, Yarraka says she's received a lot of support but also some criticism.
"I have copped a lot of backlash for it, I thought twice about deleting it... but I wanted people to see the effect bullying is having on my child. If I don't stand up and speak out for him, who will?" she told SBS.
There have also been suggestions the video was staged and Bayles was an actor. However, this has been shut down by fact-checking organisations like Snopes.
A GoFundMe for the young boy has raised more than $425,000 in just over a day.
