Family of boy, 5, with cerebral palsy whose choir came second in Britain’s Got Talent reveal the cruel abuse he receives online as trolls say he ‘should have been aborted’
- Family of Christian, who has cerebral palsy, revealed cruel abuse he gets online
- Mum Diana, from Greater Manchester, said there are trolls and awful comments
- Sister Jade Kilduff and Christian appeared on BGT with Sign Along With Us choir
- They posted a video urging people to ‘be kind’ but said the comments didn’t stop
The family of a five-year-old boy with cerebral palsy have detailed the hate and abuse he receives online every day – with cruel trolls saying he ‘should have been aborted’.
Appearing on Tuesday’s This Morning, Christian’s sister Jade Kilduff, from Heywood, Greater Manchester, and his mother Diana, 37, said that they have received more than 100 hurtful comments in just the last few days.
Diana said that the remarks she has seen are comments ‘that a parent should never have to read’, including that Christian ‘should have been aborted’.
Christian and Jade appeared in last year’s series of Britain’s Got Talent, as part of the Sign Along With Us choir who were runners up.
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Appearing on Tuesday’s This Morning, Christian’s sister Jade Kilduff, from Heywood, Greater Manchester, and his mother Diana (pictured left with her family), 37, said that they have received more than 100 hurtful comments in the last few days
The family said that while they have been getting more supporters, they have also had more trolls and ‘awful comments’ directed at Christian, including disability slurs.
They have posted a video online, urging people to be kind after the cruel comments, which they said haven’t stopped despite receiving more support.
Christian appeared at the end of the segment of the ITV daytime show, signing ‘Be Kind’ for viewers.
Christian and Jade appeared in last year’s series of Britain’s Got Talent, as part of the Sign Along With Us choir who were runners up (pictured)
Speaking to Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, Diana said: ‘We wanted to read some of those people who wrote those comments and talk about the damage that comments could do. They might just think it’s a bit of fun.’
Jade added: ‘It can take them ten seconds to write a comment and they might feel powerful and “oh, look at me, I’m so funny” for maybe ten seconds but that could then play on the person who they have hated on’s mind for ten hours, ten years or even the last ten seconds of their life.’
Christian’s family were told he would never be able to speak or communicate after he ‘didn’t take his first breath for 24 minutes’.
Jade and Christian started a choir made up of 37 children and 28 adults, appearing on Britain’s Got Talent and thrilling the judges so much that David Walliams pressed his golden buzzer for the act, the very first one of the series.
Jade said: ‘I’d heard about sign language being used for people who couldn’t talk and couldn’t communicate as well as people who were deaf.
‘So when I found out I thought I have to try it with him. And he would just smile and laugh and he would love it every time I did it with him.’
Speaking to Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby (pictured top, left to right), Diana said: ‘We wanted to read some of those people who wrote those comments and talk about the damage that comments could do’
She added: ‘I was actually signing with him every day for a year and a half before he actually signed back.’
What is cerebral palsy?
According to the NHS, Cerebral Palsy is a lifelong condition, which affects movement and coordination and often emerges in early childhood.
The condition is believed to be caused by development issues of the baby in the womb.
Treatments can include physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy in addition to medicines for muscle stiffness.
His first word was ‘finished’ after eating a yoghurt. Jade said that his yoghurt was finished and he signed it back.
Jade said: ‘I was like was that a coincidence. I was crying.’
But it became clear it wasn’t a coincidence when Christian’s parents came in and he signed it again. A week later he had two more signs and it grew from there.
Last May, Jade appeared on Good Morning Britain and said: ‘Christian came to us as my foster brother because my parents were foster careers.
‘He was actually stillborn and he didn’t take his first breath for 24 minutes, which led to him having a brain injury.
‘He’s got cerebral palsy, he’s registered blind, he has a big long list of medical conditions. But we just saw the potential this amazing little boy had’.
She added: ‘We were told he would never be able to talk and would be in a wheelchair for life. We didn’t want to accept this and I started doing sign language with him – it literally unlocked his life and now he’s the amazing little boy he is today.’
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