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Bullying victim to lead Indigenous team

3 minute read

Bullying victim Quaden Bayles' mum says her son claimed it was the "best day of his life" when asked to lead out the Indigenous NRL All Stars team.

The mother of bullying victim Quaden Bayles says her nine year old son has gone "from the worst day of his life to the best day of his life" after being asked to lead out the Indigenous NRL All Stars team on Saturday night.

Yarraka Bayles said the team's invitation capped a whirlwind 24 hours after a video she posted on social media of her distraught son went viral on Thursday.

In the heartbreaking footage, Quaden - an Indigenous boy with a common form of dwarfism - is seen sobbing into the camera and saying he is suicidal after being picked up from his Brisbane school where he is relentlessly bullied.

The outpouring of support from around the world that followed has overwhelmed the Bayles family.

A GoFundMe page promptly launched by comedian Brad Williams and initially set up to raise $10,000 to send Quaden to Disneyland reached $250,000 on Friday afternoon.

Hollywood stars Hugh Jackman and James Woods have reached out on social media.

"Not in our wildest dreams would we have thought it would go worldwide and created such a media frenzy," Yarraka Bayles said.

But she reckoned the Indigenous All Stars honour may just top the lot in her footy mad son's eyes.

"He said it was going from the worst day of his life to the best day of his life, that sums it up perfectly," she said.

"His dream is to be a footy player. That's not going to be a reality.

"This (on Saturday) is the closest thing for him to play football. That is enough for us.

"He is very excited (but) he's got to find his footy boots."

Yarraka Bayles hoped her son's video helped raise awareness about not only addressing bullying but also Indigenous suicide rates in Australia.

"It's every parent's worst nightmare to lose their babies and that is my reality every day," she said.

"I have to prepare for the worst because everything he is going through with his medical condition and the suicide attempts are very real and people don't understand that."

In the meantime, Indigenous coach Laurie Daley hoped they could bring a smile to Quaden's face after throwing open their dressing room to the youngster this weekend.

"I think anyone who saw that video were heartbroken," Daley said.

"We want to embrace him and include him in some of our activities over the next 48 hours, him and his family, just to show we care and we are here for him."

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