Adoptive parents exploiting child for fame? Tony Hudgell

[lifeissweet]

Moment Royals met 'Bear', who walked on prosthetic legs to raise £1.6m

Little Tony Hudgell beamed as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge crouched down to chat to him about his favourite Christmas carols at Westminster Abbey on Wednesday evening.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Surely a little boy that young didn't decide to do all that walking? I feel his mum has pushed him into the limelight and it makes me feel very sad.
He's going to have to come to terms with the fact that his birth parents abused him so badly as he grows up and that must be a lot for anyone to deal with, but his parents keep putting his story out there for the whole world to see so he is constantly reminded of it.
It is probably an unpopular opinion but I can't help but wonder if his parents revel in the glory they receive as the little boys 'saviours'. Why can't they just let him be a normal kid with a normal childhood?

 

[devilleil]

I did think when I saw him on the news a few weeks ago it was a bit much for him. Poor boy he has so much to cope with especially with the fact his monster biological ‘parents’ are coming out soon - I don’t really know if forcing him into the limelight is the right thing to do

 

[Apple In My Pie]

Ah I think so too

 

[LittleMy]

I’ve also thought this too. What happened to this little boy was awful and will stay with him for the rest of his life undoubtedly, but more so because his parents keep pushing him into the limelight. He deserves privacy to get on with the rest of his life without what happened defining him.

 

[spangly]

Ah, I've been thinking this for a while. What happened to him at the hands of his birth parent's have had such a devastating physical effect on his life already but he maybe could have been spared some of the psychological damage if it had been handled in a different way.
They could have told his fundraising story without allowing the media to run with the sensational background information. Even the campaigning for changes to the law could have been done without having to drag him into every interview.
Poor little thing. I honestly believe that his adoptive parents have enjoyed their five minutes of fame using Tony's name. I hope for his sake they allow him to fade quietly into the background now.

 

[Milktray]

I agree. It's so sad. I'm sure Tony is a very happy child but he needs protection, like alot of adopted children. He needs to have stability and as normal life as possible, not being thrown into the limelight to remind him that his own biological parents didn't love him and the horror he had to endure as a baby.

 

[maytoseptember]

It’s very unusual for an adopted child to have their birth parents so easily searchable. Literally if you read any BBC news story about Tony written over the last couple of years, linked underneath will be stories about his birth parents’ trial and sentencing.

That is unheard of for adopted kids, for all sorts of safeguarding reasons. And yet Tony’s wider biological family know exactly where he is and where he lives. Maybe he has contact with them privately? Who knows.

I think it’s lovely that he’s been getting lots of positive attention and made to feel special after the appalling first few years of his life. But I agree that he isn’t getting as much out of it as his parents. They have been campaigning for tougher sentencing when it comes to child cruelty which is fine I guess, but the publicity seeking needs to stop.

They need to prioritise his mental well-being above all else now. As he gets older he’s going to have to deal with all sorts of trauma, as adopted kids always do, but it’s going to be amplified tenfold considering how famous his case was and how badly he was abused. It’s going to be so difficult for him.

 

[Ltm19]

I am sick to death of his clout chaser pushy parents.

No reason why any of them can't work. The woman will use the boys disability as an excuse for staying at home looking after him but the father? No way!

After all the freebies they get and keep getting they go on This Morning to do what? Talk about the "charity" they created. Why? There are so many serious charities around the world, they surely can make regular contributions to one if they want to. No, they have to set up their own and profit from it. Absolute scum! #rantover.

 

[Milktray]

Wow! Absolutely no words. Who writes that in a bio?!

 

[Blue pumpkin]

Jumping on the Captain Tom Moore bandwagon, no doubt.

 

[devilleil]

I am sick to death of his clout chaser pushy parents.

No reason why any of them can't work. The woman will use the boys disability as an excuse for staying at home looking after him but the father? No way!

After all the freebies they get and keep getting they go on This Morning to do what? Talk about the "charity" they created. Why? There are so many serious charities around the world, they surely can make regular contributions to one if they want to. No, they have to set up their own and profit from it. Absolute scum! #rantover.

Well said and this just makes me worry so much about Tony growing up, this is going to traumatise him even more

 

[Lulu Goss]

His story is so sad and I was surprised how easily he can be linked to his birth parents. The fundraising is a brilliant thing to have done but surely they was a way to tell people about it without having all of those details linked to him?

 

[Gentlemensrelish]

No reason why any of them can't work. The woman will use the boys disability as an excuse for staying at home looking after him but the father? No way!
.

....or the mum could work and dad could stay home.

 

[CakeBaby]

I’ve noticed this story is in the press quite a bit at the moment due to the impending release (or not) of his biological parents.

I can’t help but feel really uncomfortable with it. At his age he’s too young to be able to understand the fact that he’s now nationally famous and everyone knows his face and his story - every gruesome detail. I wonder how this will impact him as he grows up and so many people he meets will know these deeply personal details about his life that he hasn’t chosen to share. Perhaps he’ll be fine with it but it doesn’t sit well with me at all.

I’m glad his abusers will remain in prison where they belong but every article seems to compete to be the most graphic, the most shocking. I really hope this boy has a lot of psychological support as he grows up.

 

[lifeissweet]

I see she's in the honour's list

 

[sixdinnersid83]

I see she's in the honour's list

They must have missed that the rspca took all the animals away that they kept in squalid conditions in kings hill. Unbelievable really.

Oh and that they bribe him with food for photos. Social services are too scared to do anything because of the media. Enough neighbours have reported them.

 

[CakeBaby]

They must have missed that the rspca took all the animals away that they kept in squalid conditions in kings hill. Unbelievable really.

Oh and that they bribe him with food for photos. Social services are too scared to do anything because of the media. Enough neighbours have reported them.

Do you know this first hand? That’s terrible if true

 

[sixdinnersid83]

Do you know this first hand? That’s terrible if true

Yes I do. I live near her and several of us reported her for animal cruelty. The rspca visited. You can hear her bribing him for photos when he is tired. Apparently social services were keeping an eye on her but the last I heard was two years ago so I assume they are happy with his care.

 

[Shinealight]

The story of this little boy has troubled me for some while, only just realised that this thread exists.
The poor lad needs privacy and normalcy in his life, wasn’t it enough that he was abused by his birth parents, without being used by his adopted ones?
Surely no one wants to be reminded all the time that they were a victim of vicious sadistic parents, and they surely won’t want to be paraded around letting the entire world know about it.
I think it’s awful.

 

[lifeissweet]

It's sick. That child needs to grow up in private without constant reminders of his birth parents. They treat him like a performing monkey.