Quaden Bayles has celebrated his 13th birthday in style despite cruel trolls continuing to spread misinformation about his real age.
The schoolboy-turned-Hollywood star entered his teenage years surrounded by friends and family at a glitzy party on Friday.
The birthday boy wore a t-shirt with Matildas’ star Mary Fowler on it and chose a cake with the face of YouTuber Darren Watkins, also known as IShowSpeed.
His mum Yarraka Bayles, whose heartbreaking video of her son crying first catapulted him to fame, posted a sweet birthday tribute to Quaden.
‘My one and only baby boy is now a teenager and I couldn’t be prouder of the fine young man he is! Blessed beyond words to be your mama!’ she wrote on Instagram.
Quaden Bayles (pictured with his mum Yarraka) has celebrated his 13th birthday in style despite cruel trolls continuing to spread misinformation about his real age
The schoolboy-turned-Hollywood star entered his teenage years surrounded by loved ones
Quaden wore a t-shirt with Matildas’ star Mary Fowler on it and chose a cake depicting YouTuber Darren Watkins, known as IShowSpeed online (pictured)
Last year, Quaden celebrated his 12th birthday with a Cristiano Ronaldo cake.
‘Can’t believe my baby boy is 12 years old and off to high school next month,’ Ms Bayles wrote last December.
The milestone birthday comes just three years after Quaden was bullied so badly for his small stature at school that he said he wanted to die.
In a video posted in 2020, the schoolboy is seen sobbing and asking for ‘rope’ to kill himself after being bullied for his dwarfirm – a type called achondroplasia.
In the video, which has been viewed more than three million times, Quaden also said: ‘I just want to stab myself in the heart… I want someone to kill me.’
An online fundraiser, ‘Let’s send a wonderful kid to Disneyland’, was soon set up by US comedian Brad Williams, who also has dwarfism.
But his family stunned fans by turning down the trip – saying they would rather the money be given to charity to help combat bullying and suicide.
More than 20,000 donors from across the world flocked to give $723,000 (US $474,000) to give Quaden’s family the trip of a lifetime.
He was then trolled again over the video, being falsely accused of being an 18-year-old actor who had lied about his age as part of a scam to raise money.
In truth, Quaden was just nine years old, and a primary school student, when his mum posted the heartbreaking video.
Ms Bayles clarified that she posted the video of her son in an effort to raise awareness about the life-threatening impacts of bullying.
Yarraka Bayles’ video of her son’s distressing response to bullying catapulted him to fame
Quaden turned heads walking the red carpet for Three Thousand Years of Longing wearing a smart navy-blue Calvin Klein suit and white sneakers.
‘Can you please educate your children, your families, your friends because all it takes is one more instance… and you wonder why kids are killing themselves,’ she said.
What began as a frightening episode exposing cruelty on multiple levels eventually turned into Quaden receiving a series of life-changing opportunities.
Celebrities lined up to support Quaden, including NRL star Latrell Mitchell, Hugh Jackman, pop phenomenons The Kid Laroi and Cardi B, Married at First Sight star Jessika Power and legendary movie director George Miller.
In August 2022 Miller announced he would cast Quaden in the latest instalment of his Mad Max franchise, Furiosa, which is due to be released in 2024.
He turned heads walking the red carpet for Three Thousand Years of Longing wearing a smart navy-blue Calvin Klein suit and white sneakers.
Google announced in December 2020 that Quaden was its ‘top trending kid’ for the year, prompting him to earn thousands of dollars for sponsored posts on Instagram.