Just days after a video went viral showing an Australian 9-year-old boy wishing to kill himself over being bullied, people are pulling back their outrage. In the video, we see Quaden Bayles, a "young" boy born with achondroplasia, a genetic disorder causing dwarfism. Bayles' "mother," Yarraka Bayles, filmed him on a Facebook live asking for the bullying the end.
The mother goes on to explain that she just picked her son up at school and witnessed a bullying episode. She adds, "I want people to know, parents, educators, teachers, this is the effect that bullying has. This is what bullying does."
***This video contains some profane language***
Many have reached out showing support, from neighbors to celebrities. Quaden has been invited to lead the Indigenous All-Star National Rugby League team out onto the field this weekend. However, even more shocking, a GoFundMe was launched by comedian Brad Williams, in effort to send Quaden to Disneyland. The $10,000 goal has been far surpassed and now has reached a whopping $420,000. Try spending all of that at Disney.
Only thing is, the internet has done some digging and are claiming that the young boy is in fact older. A tweet, posted by user Jasmein Dowe claims that Quaden is in actuality 18-years-old.
“Just so you know.. he scammed everybody.. he’s 18.. has plenty of money and yeah everyone fell for it. Now if I’m wrong please source your link and explain why to me. He’s an Instagram celeb @quadboss and deleted captions pertaining to his 18th birthday post.”
This definitely would not be the first time someone has pretending to be something or someone they are not. If you'll recall Keaton Jones and Rachel Dolezal....
However, the internet has rushed to make claims without double checking. A relative of
Bayles’s shared photos of him as a baby in 2012. Clearly a child.
An Australian tv show, “Living Black,” also did a piece on his struggles back in 2015. Footage shows him as a little boy at the time.
The original Twitter user who made the claim stating that Quaden was not his age, has since deleted her Twitter.