Shocking twist to 12-year-old’s heroic fundraising effort
A 12-year-old boy who raised over $400,000 (NZ 480,000) for those suffering in Ukraine has experienced a sudden shock - his social media accounts have been targeted by Russian hackers.
Gabriel Clark’s story started when his dad, TV and film director Richard Clark, posted to Twitter asking his followers to follow his son’s woodworking account on Instagram.
Lovely twitter people - I don't know how many of you are also #instagram users but I'm looking for a wee favour. I've a 12yr old who loves woodwork. He spends hours on his lathe making bowls and creating chopping boards which he's sells to save up for a mountain bike. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/Ny60rFf1TE
— Richard R Clark 🇺🇦 (@rclarkie) March 25, 2022
By the following day, Gabriel’s followers grew from just six to over 33,000 and he had received a whopping 20,000 orders for the bowls and chopping boards he makes using his lathe.
“It was a lot to take in for a wee lad of 12yrs (sic),” his dad wrote in a Twitter thread recounting the situation.
After calculating that it would take him 32 years to fulfil every order, Gabriel decided to make just one bowl, called ‘Gabriel’s Bowl for Ukraine’.
“We set up a Just Giving page 10 days ago for Save the Children’s Ukraine Appeal, with Gabriel setting a target of £5,000,” Richard explained. “The fundraiser would stay live until Easter when one donor would be chosen at random to win his bowl.”
Within 24 hours, donations exceeded £50,000 and by April 21, nearly 14,000 people had given a total of £251,661, with an entrant named Renuka Chapman winning the special prize.
But, Gabriel’s successes have been soured within just one week, with Mr Clark revealing that Russian hackers had taken down Gabriel’s Instagram account and they had lost all of his content.
Ok everyone. GABRIEL REALLY NEEDS YOUR HELP. Russian hackers have taken down his @instagram account clarkie_woodwood. All posts and everything gone. We desperately need Instagram to contact us.
Please help & RT! pic.twitter.com/pWubH87cKQ
— Richard R Clark 🇺🇦 (@rclarkie) April 29, 2022
Appealing for online help once again, even Ben Wallace, the UK’s Defence Secretary, called on the country’s National Cyber Security Centre to lend a hand.
“@NCSC (The National Cyber Security Centre’s Twitter account) let’s see what we can do to help. What a thing to do to Gabriel!” Mr Wallace wrote.
As of publication, Mr Clark confirmed that his son’s account was “half back at least”, describing it as “one less stressful day.
Image: @rclarkie (Twitter)