Christopher Hope-Smith put out a Twitter request for celebrities to wish his bullied son Ollie a happy birthday - but he was not prepared for the overwhelming and beautiful reaction of the internet
One of the most helpless feelings in the world is when you're parent and your child is being bullied.
Smacking the bully in the face yourself is not a realistic option, as much as you might like to.
There's little you can actually do to help, as having their mum and dad get involved might actually make things worse for them.
But one dad has proved that one of the most important things you need to do in this situation is simply surround your child with love and support.
In a lot of cases, the bullying phase will pass, so you just need to help them weather the storm.
Which is what Christopher Hope-Smith realised, when he asked Twitter to help him give his eight-year-old son Ollie the best birthday ever.
Ollie, whose ninth birthday is on 5th July, is currently being bullied at school.
Dad Christopher, whose family are based in Leeds, explained in a series of tweets: "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 Ollie has, he has bigger/better/more often. Ollie 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 ok, ever. Ollie I admit has his moments but seeing this other boy get away with this is harrowing. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Thank you."
No sooner had Christopher tweeted his heartbreaking message than he was inundated with messages of love and support for his little lad by people from far and wide.
The more it spread, the more people got in touch.
Until celebrities, like he had originally asked for, started to get wind of it.
Like the real life ACTUAL Russell Crowe!
Stormzy, the rap artist who has performed at the BRITs and Glastonbury this year, whose message has now been retweeted over 4,000 times.
Fellow Leeds resident - Tom Bosworth, an Olympic athlete, offered Ollie a VERY unique and special birthday present.
Newsround presenter Ricky Boleto was happy to help.
Even Irish airline Aer Linghus got involved.
TV presenter Jake Humphrey recorded a special birthday message for Ollie.
Comedian Al Murray offered support to Ollie.
Director of Red Nose Day Emma Freud reassured Ollie that his parents would keep him safe.
Actual England FOOTBALL CLUB offered him a birthday present he would NEVER forget.
CBBC presenter Ben Shires sent a super sweet video message.
Comedian Dawn French had this to say.
But when Ollie got his very own personalised drawing of Bart Simpson, that was when we KNEW this was going to be big.
Even Louis from Gogglebox said his piece!
Good Morning Britain presenters Ben Shephard, Charlotte Hawkns and Kate Garraway recorded a special message this morning.
Zoë Ball had some lovely words to say.
Even ex-Labour leader Ed Miliband got on board.
Strictly 2016 champion Ore Oduba had this to say.
Olympic champion Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill also wished him a happy birthday.
Ex-Corrie star Sally Lindsay sent him a message.
As did her colleague Shobna Gulati.
Christopher's wife Holly and mum of Ollie took to her husband's Twitter to thank everyone for their wonderful messages.
She wrote: "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 am completely overwhelmed by everyone's kind thoughts.
"You do not know what this means to me and will to Ollie when we show him. I have been battling with this matter for over a year and am only just now being listened to. It is heartbreaking listening to an eight-year-old who thinks that he is worthless and 'shouldn't be here'.
"I know that we are definitely not the only ones in the world to be going through this but I just want to say, from the bottom of my heart 'Thank You' so much. You really don't know what this means."
We love how much good the internet can do.
Happy birthday Ollie!
Have you ever had to face your child being the victim of bullying? Let us know over on Facebook and Twitter.
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