Instagram star defies bullies who 'spat on her' and 'threw her into lockers' in high school
A 17-year-old schoolgirl who was "spat on" and "thrown into lockers" at a Sydney school has defied her bullies and online trolls by becoming an Instagram sensation.
Maddelyn Rafferty has over 81,000 Instagram followers and is forced to finish her Year 12 schooling at home because after bullies put her through "hell" and continuously trolled her online.
The teenager is from the Sydney's northern beaches and claims the worst of the abuse began at her first high school.
"They followed me home; spat on me; shoved me into locker," she told News Limited.
"There was cyber bullying as well."
The teenage sensation said her obsession with modelling began when she was just three-years-old and she would strut her stuff down a catwalk at her home.
When Maddelyn turned 15, she got her big break when she was invited to party at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles with family friend, Crystal Hefner.
Here, she was introduced to a photographer in LA and did her first photo shoot.
She now earns thousands of dollars a month by promoting brands, some of which include various clothing companies and teeth-whitening firms, and has saved up enough to buy her first car.
Maddelyn admits this fame has brought upon online abuse and said some bullies have trolled her to the extent where her Instagram account was disabled by hackers after winning a competition to travel to Asia with Mink Pink.
“You name it, they said it: about my appearance; to kill myself; no one likes me; everyone hates me – that sort of thing," she told the publication.
Although the teenager still has some online trolls, her ‘momager’ admits she is happy to "thrilled" see her daughter finally happy.
"My husband and I have said that she will eventually finish (her schooling),” Shelly Rafferty, 38, said.
“We actually feel much more strongly about her being happy in life.”
The student has used her past as a platform and is now an ambassador for Bully Zero Australia Foundation.
She said her top priority in life is to be happy.
