Bullied Boy Wanted to Die, Celebs Rallied to His Defense

"Give me a knife, I want to kill myself," a 9-year-old boy with dwarfism sobs in a heartbreaking video shared Tuesday by the boy's mother in an effort to raise awareness about bullying, which she says he suffers daily. Quaden Bayles of Queensland, Australia, is hopefully feeling a lot better now that he's been heard by some 16 million people, including Australian actor Hugh Jackman. "You are stronger than you know. … No matter what, you've got a friend in me," Jackman says in a video response, per CNN. American comedian Brad Williams, who also has achondroplasia dwarfism, took a different approach, launching a GoFundMe page that has raised $291,000 in a single day.

"This isn't just for Quaden, this is for anyone who has been bullied in their lives and told they weren't good enough," Williams wrote. He plans to send Quaden and his mother to Disneyland, with the rest of the money going to anti-bullying and anti-abuse charities. Quaden, receiving messages of support from people around the world, has even more to look forward to: Enes Kanter of the Boston Celtics has offered him a front-row seat at an upcoming game, per the BBC. But first, Quaden will lead the National Rugby League's Indigenous All-Stars out onto the pitch ahead of Saturday's pre-season match. "We know you're going through a hard time right now," says fullback Latrell Mitchell. "But the boys are here, we've got your back." (More bullying stories.)