Brad Williams raised about $290,000 through GoFundMe to help the nine-year-old Australian boy with Disneyland after the boy’s heartbreaking video went viral.
The stand-up comedian, who also suffers from dwarfism, set up a GoFundMe page for Quaden Bayles after the boy’s mother uploaded a video of him crying while saying, “I want to kill myself.”
“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,” Williams wrote on the page.
Williams continued by stating that the GoFundMe page is not just for Quaden, but for anyone who had been bullied and were told that they were not good enough.
He urged people to show Quaden and others that there is good in the world and everyone, including them, are worthy of it.
More than 13,000 people donated to the page and as of Friday, the funds raised a total of $294,409.
Williams noted that the funds will be used for two airplane tickets, hotel accomodations, food, and tickets to Disneyland in Anaheim for Quaden and his mother.
Excess funds will be donated to anti-bullying and anti-abuse charities.
On top of this, Quaden received an overwhelming support from both the public and celebrities including Hugh Jackman, Eric Trump, and Mark Hamill.
The Aboriginal boy from Queensland, Australia quickly became viral after his mother, Yarraka Bayles, posted a video of Quaden’s emotional response to social media, hoping to show children and parents how devastating bullying can be.
The boy has then spoken out and encouraged others to “stand up for yourself,” and urged parents to “make their kids be nice to people with disabilities.”
Yarraka hopes that her son’s video has helped raise awareness about bullying and 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.