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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Ted Hennessey

US comedian Brad Williams helps raise $200,000 to send bullied Australian schoolboy Quaden Bayles to Disneyland

More than $200,000 has been raised to send a bullied Australian schoolboy with dwarfism on a dream trip to Disneyland.

A video of nine-year-old Quaden Bayles was uploaded to Facebook by his mother, showing the schoolboy in tears , after he was picked on at school.

The clip, which has been viewed more than 16 million times, led to an outpouring of support from around the world.

A Go-Fund Me page was set up by US comedian Brad Williams to send the boy, from Queensland, to Disneyland.

Comedian Brad Williams launched the fundraiser with a $10,000 target (Getty Images)

By Friday afternoon, it had surpassed the $10,000 and had reached nearly $250,000.

Williams said: "This isn't just for Quaden, this is for anyone who has been bullied in their lives and told they weren't good enough.

"Let's show Quaden and others that there is good in the world and they are worthy of it."

Bayles was born with a condition called achondroplasia dwarfism, which Williams also lives with.

The Greatest Showman and Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman also reached out to Bayles

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, posting a video saying: "Quaden, you are stronger than you know mate, and no matter what, you’ve got a friend in me.

"So, everyone lets please be kind to each other, bullying is not OK.

"Life is hard enough, so let’s remember, every person in front of us is facing some kind of battle, so let’s just be kind."

Commenting on the video, Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, said: "The cruelty is as astonishing as it is heartbreaking."

Bayles has also been invited to lead out the National Rugby League's Indigenous All-Stars team before Saturday's NRL pre-season match against the Maori All-Stars.

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