Over the past few days, a video of nine-year-old Quaden Bayles has gone viral for a heartbreaking reason. Quaden, who is aboriginal and has dwarfism, was filmed by his mother as he cried about getting bullied, expressing the desire to commit suicide over the way he’d been treated.
Now, the world has rallied behind Quaden, donating to GoFundMe efforts for him and sending him support in any way possible from all corners of the globe. Among those who want to help are jiu-jitsu coaches Tom DeBlass and Gracie brothers Rener and Ryron (of Gracie University). Even though Quaden lives in Australia (and has reportedly received offers for free jiu-jitsu training in his home country), the famous black belts have invited him to come train in the United States with them.
DeBlass put out a post yesterday asking for help getting in contact with Quaden’s mother, saying that he’d fly her and Quaden out to his academy in New Jersey to train for the week.
Gracie University put out a similar offer, proposing paying for the family’s travel and two weeks of their Bullyproof program.
No word yet on whether Quaden will be coming over to the U.S. to start learning jiu-jitsu, but we’ll keep you posted if he does!
