Sick scammers have set up unauthorised fundraising pages falsely claiming to raise money for a bullied nine-year-old with dwarfism.
Stand-up comedian Brad Williams set up a legitimate GoFundMe page for Quaden Bayles on Thursday after the boy’s mother Yarraka shared a video of him crying and saying he wanted to die.
A few hours later Ms Bayles posted on Facebook saying this was the only fundraiser she had authorised and she was aware of fakes.
A search by Daily Mail Australia of the GoFundMe website found several pages relating to Quaden that had not been authorised by his mother.
One woman in the US even appeared to claim that Quaden was her son.
The page featured a picture of Quaden and the words: ‘Hello my son has been being bullied as you can clearly see over the internet I’m just a tired mum.’
Sick scammers have set up unauthorized fundraising pages purporting to raise money for a bullied nine-year-old with dwarfism (pictured)
Ms Bayles posted on Facebook saying she was aware of fake fundraisers
US comedian Brad Williams (pictured) set up a GoFundMe page for Quaden Bayles on Thursday after the boy’s mother shared a video of him crying and saying he wanted to die
One woman in the US even appeared to claim that Quaden was her son. Pictured is an unauthorised fundraising page with the words ‘hello my son has been being bullied’
When he set up his page, Mr Williams, who also has dwarfism, wrote: ‘I’m setting up this GoFundMe to let Quaden know that bullying will not be tolerated, and that he is a wonderful human being who deserves joy.
‘I want to fly Quaden and his mother to America, get them a nice hotel, and bring them to Disneyland.
‘This isn’t just for Quaden, this is for anyone who has been bullied in their lives and told they weren’t good enough.
‘Let’s show Quaden and others that there is good in the world and they are worthy of it.’
Mr Williams said that if too much is donated the excess would be given to anti-bullying charities.
By Thursday morning the page already had 1,700 donors.
Quaden’s mother Yarraka, from Brisbane, shared the distressing video on Wednesday after picking him up from school.
The schoolboy, who has achondroplasia – the most common type of dwarfism – told his mother: ‘Give me a rope, I want to kill myself.’
In the video, which has been viewed more than three million times, Quaden also said: ‘I just want to stab myself in the heart… I want someone to kill me.’
Quaden also scratched at his neck and said: ‘I want to die… I want to scratch myself.’
Since sharing the video, Ms Bayles has been inundated with kind messages of support from friends and strangers alike.
The Indigenous All Stars NRL team reached out to the family, inviting Quaden to walk them onto the pitch on Saturday night.
Quaden’s mother Yarraka, who is from Brisbane, filmed her son (pictured together) crying in the car after she picked him up from school on Wednesday and publicly shared the video on Facebook
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
They will take on New Zealand Maori Kiwis at CBUS Super Stadium on the Gold Coast.
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.
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 as 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.
‘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.’
As Quaden sobbed, Ms Bayles asked for help from anyone viewing the footage.
‘So is there any advice or support or anything that other parents have done?
‘I’ve got some good advice but I need more, I want people to know how much it is hurting us as a family,’ she said as her voice quivered. quaden
The mother did not go into specifics about the latest bullying incident, but previously said her son was called a ‘midget’ by his class mates.
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.
‘I’ve explained to him that once you go, there’s no coming back, you’re gone forever, but he still kept trying,’ the mother said.
She also said Quaden has been affected by the death of his grandfather and his younger half-brother, who was stillborn.
‘He thought if he went to heaven, then he’d be with his Pop and his little brother,’ she said.
She told the newspaper she was proud that she had spoken publicly about asking for help.
The mother, an Aboriginal rights activist, said her son has made several attempts to take his own life