When Celebrities Came Together to wish a Bullied Child #WATWB

Dr Roshan Radhakrishnan
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It began with a heartbreaking series of tweets by Christopher, a father to a young boy.

"Strange request. Anyone know anyone famous/well known who could send Ollie a positive/9th birthday message. The bully keeps saying to him that everything O has, he has bigger/better/more often. O excited for his birthday but keeps being told it won't be as good as his own.
I would be so grateful and I appreciate it is an odd request. Just would love someone to tell him he does mean something & bullying is not."

His son was being bullied and ill-treated even on the eve of his 9th birthday. He hoped anyone would be able to find anyone just 'well known' also to wish his son to cheer him up on his birthday.

He got his wish with a few 'moderately well known' blokes and lasses deciding to wish Ollie and cheer him up, letting him know they were on his side.

So who all came in that list of wishers, you ask? Meh. Nobody great. Just:
  1. Talk show host and legend Ellen Degeneres.
  2. The Terminator himself Arnold Schwarzenegger
  3. Wolverine Hugh Jackman
  4. Gladiator Russell Crowe
  5. Singer Nicole Scherzinger
  6. Astronaut Chris Hadfield 
  7. Astronaut Tim Peake
  8. English cricketer Graeme Swann
  9. British Olympic racewalker Tom Bosworth
  10. British Olympic medalist Dame Jessica Ennis Hill
  11. Simpsons cartoonist Eric Keyes
  12. American activist Monica Lewinsky
  13. Manchester City football club
  14. Manchester United football club
  15. Arsenal football club
  16. The English national football club
 So ya, as I said, meh. Nobody great.

When a father tweeted about how his child was being bullied on the eve of his birthday, celebrities including Ellen Degeneres, Arnold, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, astronauts, Olympic medalists and even national football teams came together to support the boy and wish him a Happy Birthday.


Jokes aside, it was an absolutely lovely gesture from the stars and must have felt so great for the young child. His mom, Natalie would later thank everyone for their kindness.

"Hi, I'm Ollie's mum (married to Chris). I don't 'tweet' and always go on at him for spending too much time on Twitter!! However, this time I want to say, from the bottom of my heart 'Thank You' so much. You really don't know what this means, Natalie xx"

I wanted to share this lovely story for two reasons and you, the reader, are a part of the second.

The first reason is that for me, twitter is nowadays one of most toxic social media platforms available (especially in India) with abusive trolls and hate-filled tweets forming the bulk of comments for anyone trying to raise a point. Celebrities who stand up for a cause actually end up getting threats of rape, violence and murder.
And yet, I have hope. Because this is the same world where people of different beliefs, races and religions all got together on Twitter and let a small boy know that they stood by his side and that bullying is not okay. We will get there, India. We just need to keep standing up for our own Ollies who are victims of abuse and who wrongfully believe that nobody cares for them.


Top post on IndiBlogger, the biggest community of Indian Bloggers



The second point is far more positive. If I am not mistaken, Ollie celebrates his birthday on the 5th of July. So I am hoping you can find it in yourself to spare a moment to write a birthday wish for the young lad in the comments section (the plan being to share this post with his father next week).

Sure, you and I are not Wolverine or Ellen but you know what, I think, he wouldn't mind it at all.
Who knows, if we are lucky, we will get cake too!

P.S. Do you want some hints on how to write birthday wishes to Ollie? Here are some people who tried it in 2017.

























So once again, don't forget to wish Ollie a happy birthday in the comments section :)

Authors note:

This post is part of the We Are the World Blogfest, a monthly event to showcase stories of compassion. The hosts for this month are:  Shilpa Garg, Simon FalkMary J GieseDan Antion,  Damyanti Biswas.   

The idea is to spread positivity and light to counterbalance the negativity and darkness in social media. You can check their pages to find the list of feel-good stories written by bloggers from around the world.




This is also my take on the prompt “No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true.” – Cinderella set by WriteTribe for their Festival of Words June 2018.  

This is my take on the Picture Prompt provided for Day 2 of the Write Tribe Festival of Words June 2018.
You can see entries by other bloggers for the prompts of Day 6 here.

My other entries for this festival are:
In My Defense (Short Story)



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43Comments

Let me know what you think.

  1. Happy 10th Birthday, Ollie. You are a rockstar and I wish you the best of everything in life. Sending you so much love from Australia. Eat lots of yummy food and have so much fun. Also, sounds like you have the best parents ever. Have a blessed year and give my love to your amazing parents.
    - Sharon
    Australia

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  2. Happy birthday, kid. Keep rocking!

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  3. Happy bday Ollie, hope you have a fantastic day and grow up to be a super awesome soul!

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  4. Happy 10th Birthday Ollie... Don't let anyone define you! Keep your head held high because You are fearfully and wonderfully made!! Love and regards all the way from India.
    -Blessy Ninan.

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  5. Happy 10th birthday ollie..wishing you many such wonderful birthdays buddy..God bless..

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  7. Happy Birthday Ollie !!! Please know you are so much more than what anyone says. You are a beautiful human being who is destined to achieve great things and never ever let anyone tell you otherwise! Your dreams are yours to catch. Have an amazing day little bro! Sending lots of love from London! :) the world is yours!! Yours truly Ratheeson Thillainathan

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  8. Happy bday Ollie, live long and prosper.

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  9. Happy Birthday Ollie; You are a rockstar!

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  10. Ollie your story will inspire many young boys and girl forever. You are brilliant dear. Your light shined so bright that it shown the world one of its dark side.
    Your destiny has just started to unfold itself.... you have a long way to go. Forgive and forget those who didn't understand you and were bad to you just focus and see how many people love you , admire you for who you are. Continue to be yourself. Love and wishes from India.
    Hugs
    Bhavna.

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  11. Hello Ollie. I wish you the brightest smiles and the happiest days ahead. God bless and keep being amazing!

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  12. Happy Birthday Ollie! And now that you are a big boy, a year older, and definitely saner than the ones bullying you, here’s a secret - bullies are nothing but cowards who just make a loud noise.
    You have fun, buddy! Rock it :)

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  13. Happy Birthday Ollie. Have a Blessed year ahead! I wish all your dreams come true and you prosper to achieve your dreams.

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  14. Many many happy returns of the day Ollie. Have an awesome birthday. Wishing you lots of happiness and adventure and dreams this year. 🎉🎆🎊✨🎈

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  15. Wish you a very Happy Birthday, Ollie. May you have a wonderful day, and fabulous year ahead. Believe in yourself. Be confident. That is the way to go forward. With you the best, Ollie.

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  16. Hey Ollie, Wishing you a very happy birthday. Stay happy always. :)

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  17. A very happy 10th birthday to you, Ollie. Here's wishing you a wonderful day. Stay strong and happy always!

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  19. Hey Ollie, I wish you a very happy birthday. You know you are a wonderful person, always remember this and you will never lack confidence. Never focus on what people did to you in the past, just learn from it and move on. Believe me, you will make many many awesome friends in the future who would love you for the person you are. Don't try to complete with others, just work on improving yourself. Sending lots of love from Poland and India, as all my family members join me in wishing you a fab 10th.

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  20. Lots of love from me and my fellow anaesthesiologists here in India. Have a great year ahead, Ollie. Reach for the skies.

    P. S. Many of us were victims of bullying too as kids. It sucked but we made it through that phase and today we are all super fly dudes and dudettes in hospitals across the country!
    Your best days are coming.

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  21. Happy birthday Ollie! May God bless you with lots of beautiful wonders of life.

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  22. Happy happy birthday Ollie. Four more days to go and you'll be nine. Keep your chin up and smile always. Lots of love.

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  23. Hey Ollie happy 9th birthday ! May god and your parents grant you with the best memories of life and I hope you have a wonderful day filled with happiness and laughter. Love lots from Australia ����
    Love Jestina

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  24. Hey Ollie❤
    Wish you a very happy birthday from India. I wish you grow up as a person who stand up against for bullying, for all the young children and teenagers you're going to meet in life ahead,I wanf you to inspire them.
    For now, just know that you're a Rockstar
    I love you!
    Happy happy birthday ❤❤❤

    Anamika
    India

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  25. Happy bday dearest ollie....good times are coming dear... lots of luv....

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  26. Many Many many many many many many many many happy returns of the day Ollie!. There may be lots of negativity in this world, but we should stay positive. Never ever give in to hate. They may be bullies, but you are much much more!. You are a champion!. God bless you. Lots and lots of love from India. ��

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  27. AnonymousJuly 02, 2018

    Happy birthday Ollie! I hope you have the best year ever! You are so so so important and awesome! If you are still being bullied, please know bullies say and do mean things when they are hurting or insecure, (but that still doesn't make it in anyway ok) so remember that the mean things bullies say are lies and the mean things they do and say have nothing to do with you. I am so sorry you have to go through bullying. Please remember how amazing Ollie is! I am a 14 year old kid from Alaska and I am sending you lots of happy birthday wishes and a polar bear (just kidding about the polar bear) . :) You rock! Have a day as wonderful as you are (that is SO wonderful)! Happy 10th birthday! Hope it's lots of fun!!!!
    Lots of Love,
    Gabby

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  28. AnonymousJuly 02, 2018

    Happy Birthday Ollie! Hope you have a great day, you are so inspirational to many people. Stay Strong!

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  29. Happy birthday, Ollie. Next time someone tries to bully you, remember there are so many people rooting for you. No matter what it seems like right now, the world is not such a bad place, kid. So you grow up and make it better. Be kind. Live well...

    Love and hugs!

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  30. Wishing Ollie a very happy birthday and as a parent I totally understand what his parents must be going through! Lovely gesture by the celebs

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  31. AnonymousJuly 02, 2018

    Happy birthday Ollie!!! I hope you have a beautiful but most importantly a fun birthday. Always remember, we’ve got your back and we’re here to give you the needed support. You are really privileged to have such supporting parents and friends and I really hope the bullies have learnt a lesson. May god bless you Ollie❤
    Lots of love
    Shruthi
    Australia ������������

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  32. AnonymousJuly 02, 2018

    Happy birthday Ollie, I hope you have a wonderful day on your birthday. May your birthday be filled with joy, happiness and love.
    Lots of love,
    Christina
    Australia

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  33. Have a great bday Ollie kutta 😍

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  34. It’s great to see people with a big reach advocate for something so great for the world.

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  35. Such news brings back my love for twitter, I felt so proud that people stood up for Ollie against bullying. Wishing the child a very happy 9th Birthday!

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  36. Happy Birthday Ollie. Wish you all the happiness and success.. God bless you dear

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  37. Happy Birthday Dear Ollie! Be happy in life, keep smiling.

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  38. Hello Ollie!! Happy Birthday. It's your first double digits number..yayy!! Are you excited.. just think about the 10 blessed years of your life. I know life dometimes seems tough..isnt but it happens with all of us.. believe me. Have confidence. Just forget about what others are saying when your mom and dad are on your side. Aren't they your pillar of strength. Keep your chin up and rock the world birthday boy!! Happy Birthday once again...lots of love from Houston & india...:-)

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  39. AnonymousJuly 04, 2018

    Dear Ollie,
    Happy Birthday! We all love you! Have an amazing day!

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  40. AnonymousJuly 04, 2018

    Happy 10th Birthday Ollie!
    Remember, you are-
    Stronger than you seem
    Braver than you believe
    Smarter than you think
    More loved than you'll ever know!
    Have fun on your special day!
    -Dr. J Weiss

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  41. Happy Birthday Ollie. God Bless you with all the happiness.

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  42. Bullying can be depressing sometimes. You don't want to face the world and just be alone. You start hating the lovely days as your birthday.
    This is a great ode to Ollie. Though I am a little late still I wanna wish Ollie Happy Birthday.

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  43. I'm sorry I missed seeing this before. I hope that Ollie had a wonderful 10th birthday. I know that others like myself and Ollie who fall under the sign of Cancer are Super-sensitive. I also know what it is like when people make fun of how you look or act. I hope that Ollie was inspired by the celebrities who wished him well and that he now knows that he need not be bullied by others that he is a person in his own right and I hope that he will be able to pass along positive and caring actions on into the future and make the world a better place. Thanks Dr. R. for bringing this story to #WATWB. Also thank you for being an advocate for positivity.

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