Rosie Jones moved to tears after learning trolls sent abuse to disabled toddler

Comedian Rosie Jones was moved to tears when she heard of the horrific ableist abuse that was sent to a family who were trying to raise money for their disabled baby daughter.

The comic, who has cerebral palsy, met with Lydia's parents as part of her Channel 4 documentary Rosie Jones: Am I a R****d? which premieres on Thursday, 20 July.

In it, Jones investigates the online trolling and abuse she and other disabled people, like Lydia, receive on a daily basis. Ableism is the discrimination of people who are physically or mentally disabled.

Bethan and Dave's daughter Lydia was born with a rare genetic disorder, and they wanted to raise money for £50,000 so she could receive treatment in the US.

The petition gained traction, and while a lot of people supported the family by donating money it also led to a lot of people sending them abuse and even suggesting that rather than raise the funds for Lydia's treatment, Bethan and Dave should end her life.

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Telling Jones of their experience with online trolling, Bethan said: "I think there was one post laughing, the emoji you can put on it laughing, [it] was just vile, vile."

Dave added: "You always expect there were people who would say things, but actually the amount of people who were willing to put that out was overwhelming

"It's really annoying that people will take time out of their day to write things about a little girl, which is essentially what they are doing.

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"People having the opinion is really angering anyway but sharing it is another thing. Even if you have that opinion keep it to yourself."

Bethan broke down in tears as she admitted to Jones that while she doesn't "regret a moment of Lydia's life, not a moment with her" she regretted the amount of time and energy she gave to the trolls sending them abuse and took her away from Lydia.

"She was only with us for four and a half years and even if I spent just five minutes of my time looking and upsetting myself over a stranger whose comments weren't true," Bethan said.

"That's one of my biggest regrets, my biggest regret is that it had the impact that it did have."

When reflecting on meeting Bethan and Dave afterwards, Jones was moved to tears as she called the trolls who targeted Lydia "monsters" and said that they made her "sick".

Jones said: "I get abuse because I make a conscious effort to put myself out there, but Dave and Bethan all they wanted was for their daughter to survive. Monsters. I'm so angry.

"Lydia was an innocent baby, and the sheer fact that people out there could abuse a disabled child makes me sick."

Rosie Jones: Am I a R****d? airs on Channel 4 at 10pm on Thursday, 20 July.

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