A nine-year-old boy who was bullied so severely he begged his mother to let him kill himself has been flooded with support with the latest bout coming from NRL legend Johnathon Thurston.
Quaden was filmed in tears by his mother Yarraka Bayles while leaving school in Brisbane on Wednesday.
‘Give me a rope, I want to kill myself,’ Quaden said in the heart-wrenching video.
The video has since been viewed almost four million times with Thurston calling out for parents to take stronger action against bullying.
‘Quaden….stay strong buddy; you are loved! To the bullies….THIS IS NOT OK,’ Thurston wrote on Instagram along with a cartoon drawing of Quaden.
On Friday morning, the Dally M Medallist supported Ms Bayles for raising awareness for kids who are bullied.
‘It doesn’t matter if you have children or not, to see these images is heartbreaking,’ Thurston told Nova 96.9’s Fitzy & Wippa.
‘I commend the mother for filming this and raising awareness of what bulling does. We had Dolly from the NT a couple of years ago who committed suicide and now we’ve got a nine-year-old who’s talking about the same thing.
‘I think parents need to step up and start educating their kids on the effects of bullying.’
On Saturday night, Quaden will lead the Indigenous All Stars team out onto the pitch at CBUS Stadium in Queensland on Saturday night.
Quaden Bayles, nine, (pictured) was bullied so badly he was seen in heart breaking footage asking to kill himself
NRL legend Johnathon Thurston (pictured) has offered his support to Quaden since the video went viral
Thurston said he was looking forward to the big event.
‘I’m going to be at the game on Saturday night, I’m looking forward to watching him lead the team out,’ Thurston said.
‘That’ll be a big moment for him and certainly put a big smile on his face.’
The nine-year-old was snapped with NRL star Latrell Mitchell, who donned a South Sydney Rabbitohs jersey after signing with the club for the 2020 season.
Through a heart warming Instagram post, Thurston said Quaden ‘was loved’ and to ‘stay strong’
Mitchell is teammates with Quaden’s uncle James Roberts, who is also in the Indigenous All Stars team.
The All Stars squad filmed a video for the schoolboy on Thursday, letting him know they were on his side.
Mitchell said: ‘Hey Quadey… Just wanted to wish you all the best brother, we know you’re going through a hard time right now but the boys are here.
‘We’ve got your back, we’re here to support you bud. We just want to make sure you’re doing alright.
‘We want you around, we want you to lead us down on the weekend. It’s going to mean more to us than it will to you bud.
‘Just make sure you’re looking after yourself and hopefully we get to see you in the next couple of days.’
In the video shared by his mother, Quaden who has achondroplasia – the most common type of dwarfism also scratched at his neck and said: ‘I want to die… I want to scratch myself’.
Ms Bayles shared the video publicly on Facebook in a bid to raise awareness about the impact of bullying.
She said she normally tries to keep distressing moments such as this private but felt she had been left with no choice but to go public.
‘We try to be as strong and positive as possible and only share the highlights… but this is how bullying affects a nine-year-old kid,’ she said in the video.
At the start of the five-minute clip, Ms Bayles said: ‘I just picked my son up from school, witnessed a bullying episode, rang the principal and I want people to know this is the effect bullying has. This is what bullying does.
Quaden is pictured with NRL star Latrell Mitchell. The nine-year-old will lead the Indigenous All Stars NRL team onto the pitch on Saturday
‘So can you please educate your children, your families, your friends because all it takes is one more instance… and you wonder why kids are killing themselves.’
‘This is the impact bullying has a nine-year-old kid who just wants to go to school, get an education and have fun but every single fricking day something happens.
‘Another episode another bullying, another taunt, another name-calling.’
Last year she told the Courier-Mail Quaden first tried to kill himself three years ago when he was just six.
‘I was so shocked. I honestly didn’t think he would even know what or how at six years old,’ she said.
The mother, an Aboriginal rights activist, said her son has made several attempts to take his own life
The mother, an Aboriginal rights activist, said her son has made several attempts to take his own life.
In the wake of the viral video other stars have offered their support for Quaden.
Australian actor Hugh Jackman said he would always have a friend in him in a video.
‘Quaden, you are stronger than you know, mate,’ Hugh said in a video shared with his 14 million Twitter followers.
He added: ‘And no matter what, you’ve got a friend in me.’
‘Bullying is not okay. Period. Life is hard enough,’ he said.
‘Let’s just remember every person in front of us is facing the same kind of battle. So let’s just be kind.’
For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14