Some Twitter users are questioning whether a dwarf who appeared in a now-viral video sobbing that he’s the 9-year-old victim of bullies is nothing but a teenage prankster, although other postings appear to back up his heartbreaking tale.
But the boy’s mother, Yarraka Bayles, spoke out on Friday in their native Australia, thanking supporters from around the globe who have come to his defense.
“We never could have dreamt in our wildest dreams that it could’ve gone worldwide and created such a media frenzy. It’s far exceeded anything we could have imagined,” Yarraka Bayles told reporters.
She added that his condition is “very real” and she fears for his well being daily.
“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare losing their babies. And for me, that’s my reality every day,” she said.
“I have to prepare for the worst because everything he’s going through — his medical condition, the suicide attempts are very real and people don’t understand that,” Yarraka added.
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Some Twitter users questioned Friday whether the boy is actually older than his mom says he is.
Quaden Bayles — who gained the sympathy of legions of supporters, including actor and fellow Aussie Hugh Jackman — is really 18 and “scammed everybody,” tweeted Jasmein Dowe on Friday, according to several Twitter users who reposted the accusation with some photos of an adult-looking Bayles from his Instagram page. Dowe’s Twitter account appeared to have been taken down later Friday.
But NBC TV’s “Today” show featured an uplifting piece about a clearly little-boy Bayles in June 2016 walking his dog Buddy and saying how the canine helps the dwarf cope with ridicule.
Bayles is missing his two front teeth in the photo, and the show said he was 5 years old at the time.
The Australian TV show “Living Black” also did a report on Bayles’ struggles in April 2015 and featured video footage of him as a little boy at the time.
A Facebook page apparently belonging to one of Bayles’s relatives also shows she shared photos on it in 2012 of Bayles as a baby — and when asked how old he was at the time, Bayles’s mom wrote, “Lil man going on 15 months now bless him!”
But Dowe’s alleged tweet says Bayles “has plenty of money and yeah everyone fell for it.
“Now if I’m wrong please source your link and explain why to me,” she wrote, according to the screenshot. “He’s a Instagram celeb @quadosss and deleted captions pertaining to his 18th birthday post.”
Twitter user shanrrr reposted the tweet and added, “wtf is this? hes 18? and an actor?”
Bayles’s Instagram page includes some of the photos that were circulating questioning the him.
Twitter user Raymond Michael also posted other adult-looking photos of Bayles, writing, “I’m getting a vibe that maybe this kid is just a really good actor? I duno…..,” according to a supposed screenshot from his account, which was unable to be verified.
Site user @nicholasrocha94 reposted Michael’s alleged tweet and wrote, “I’ve got questions now.”