The mother of an Australian boy who went viral after being bullied at school for his dwarfism has spoken out about the torment the family received in the video's immediate aftermath.
A heartbreaking video of Quaden Bayles, 9, was posted to Facebook in February showing him crying after children at school had taunted him for his height.
Quaden was born with Achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism and his mother Yarraka Bayles had witnessed him being bullied at his Brisbane school due to his height.
She posted the video of him crying to her Facebook page to show the impact bullying has on a young child.
Now, eight months after the video was posted, Yarraka said the reality of going viral made her question what she was trying to do.
"I woke up, my phone's blowing up. We've got media at our door. I've got non-stop call after call. And I am like, 'What the hell have I done?'," she told ABC.
While Quaden received messages of support from celebrities including Hugh Jackman and Australian rugby team the Indigenous All Stars, he was also the target of Internet trolls.
A GoFundMe page was set up to take Quaden to Disneyland and over $700,000 was raised. This money has since been split between charities and a small amount has been kept in a trust for Quaden.
Yarraka said while this money was being raised, she was accused of being a fraudster and scammer, of teaching her son to be a victim and of him being an 18-year-old actor who was already rich and famous.
Quaden slammed the rumours he was older than he said.
"I'm nine, almost turning 10. People think I'm 18, but I'm really not, trust me," he told ABC.
Yarraka contacted lawyer George Newhouse, who said he was "horrified" by the abuse targeting the family.
"I have never seen the amount of vilification that came out of this one event. It was relentless… There were hundreds of people, in fact, thousands of people involved in perpetrating this violent abuse," he said.
Yarraka said at a Disability Royal Commission earlier in October that she would like to see a 'Quaden's Law' implemented in schools to protect children from bullying.
"It's by no means an attack on any student or staff member or school, it's something that requires a holistic approach. We need to be teaching our children to be more accepting," she said.
Quaden returned to school in June and Yarraka said he has a detailed care plan to help him through his life in education.
