CT Surfers Say “Fuck All The Bullying”, Invite Virally Bullied Child To Snapper Event

Samuel Reynolds. Know his name. He didn’t surf. He didn’t even live near the beach. He was a Texas teenager that stood up to a bully earlier this month and was shot dead in cold blood shortly thereafter.

The 16-year-old decided to intervene when he saw a bully pick a fight with a smaller kid at school. Days later, said bully shot and killed Reynolds.

A world away, this week Yarraka Bayles posted a video of her son, Quaden, to Instagram that is absolutely heartbreaking. Showing her 9-year-old, who was born with a condition called achondroplasia dwarfism, distraught, crying and begging for somebody to extinguish his young flame after a fierce day of bullying at school, the video has gone viral.  

Bullying is real. It has real consequences. And the best disinfectant is sunshine.

“F#ck all the bullying,” said Jeremy Flores on Twitter.

“Life is beautiful and should be full of love,” wrote Jack Freestone on Instagram. “If anyone knows how I could get in touch with this child and his family that would be amazing. I want to bring them all down during the first event of the season to surf, hangout and meet all the surf pros.”

It’d be epic to have Quaden and his family cruise down to Snapper. At its very best, surfing is about aloha, love, and sharing the stoke. Yes, that sounds cliche and corny, and I would guess some anonymous bully in the comments section below will take the piss out of me for it, but it’s true. I’ve seen it. The ocean is healing. 

Alas, surf dads are hardly the only ones rallying around Quaden and all those oppressed by the boot of bullying. 

“You’ve got a friend in me,” actor Hugh Jackman, told his 14 million followers on Twitter.

American comedian comedian Brad Williams has already raised almost $266,000 via a GoFundMe campaign. Part of the money will go towards bringing the family to Disneyland in California.

Samuel Reynolds. Quaden Bayles. At this moment in time they are the faces of bullying’s savageness. But there are countless kids around the world getting picked on right now because they look different, talk different, wear different clothes, have different parents. 

The fact is, we’re all different. Ain’t nobody born perfect—not even Slater—and if you think you are you better check yourself. 

“Bullying can’t survive love…keep it coming,” remarked world champ Tom Carroll.