WARNING: Story/video contains sensitive material; viewer discretion advised
BRISBANE, Australia (WFLA/KRON) – A 9-year-old who took the internet by storm following a viral emotional video posted on social media this week will soon be spending time at Disneyland.
Comedian Brad Williams who also has Dwarfism, saw the story of Quaden and it hit too close to home. So he decided to do something beautiful by helping raise money to help send Quaden and his mother from Australia to Disneyland in California.
The fundraiser in just under 24 hours helped raise over $75,000 with a goal originally set for just $10,000! As of Friday morning, it was at $205,000.
Twitter commenters were blown away by the success of the campaign with Quaden also earning the support of other celebrities, including Hugh Jackman, who posted a video for Quaden on Twitter.
Quadan’s mother shared the emotional video on Facebook Tuesday, showing her son crying after school.
In the video, Bayles says Quaden was born with Achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism.
“I’ve just picked up my son from school, witnessed a bullying episode, rang the principal, and I want people [to] know, parents, educators teachers, this is the effects that bullying has, this is what bullying does,” Bayles is heard saying in the background.
Bayles told Australian news outlet SBS that she witnessed a classmate of Quaden patting him on the head and making references to his height.
She said she shared the video because the bullying is ongoing and Quaden has attempted suicide several times.
Bayles said she doesn’t point fingers at the school or the students for the incident.
Rather than placing blame, she said she just thinks more needs to be done to teach children about disabilities.
Since it was shared earlier this week, the video has gone viral with over 13 million views and thousands of shares.
Quaden has since been pulled from school and his mother is considering homeschooling him.
