A nine-year-old boy who was left suicidal after being bullied because of his dwarfism has had “the best day of his life” as he led out an all-star rugby league team in Australia.
Quaden Bayles received an outpouring of support worldwide after his mother shared an emotional clip of him on social media.
In the viral video the youngster was heard saying, “I’m going to die right now … give me a knife, I’m going to kill myself”, after a bullying incident at his school.
Dressed in an All-Stars jersey, he wore black noise-cancelling headphones and clung to the match ball as he strode into the middle of the pitch.
Ahead of the event, Quaden’s mother Yarraka Bayles said her son had described the invitation to attend the match as “going from the worst day of his life to the best day of his life”.
Image: Former rugby league player Johnathan Thurston poses with Quaden
“We could never have dreamt in our wildest dreams that it would’ve gone worldwide and created such a media frenzy,” Ms Bayles said.
“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare losing their babies and for me that’s my reality every day.
Image: Quaden looks on with Cody Walker of the Indigenous All-Stars
“That’s what I have to prepare for – the worst, because everything he is going through with his medical condition, the suicide attempts are very real and people don’t understand that.
“There are way too many people suffering in silence and my heart goes out to those families that have already lost their children to bullying.
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