Mum posts heartbreaking photo of young daughter in hospital after being bullied

"This is what bullying does..."

A heartbroken mum's candid Facebook post about her daughter's suffering at the hands of school bullies has gone viral. Carrie Golledge from Devon posted a photo on Facebook of her young daughter, Sophia, in a hospital bed. Alongside the photo, she wrote a gut-wrenching message - once which has struck a chord with parents across the globe. "This is what bullying does," she began, before explaining that her 6-year-old daughter had been hospitalised due to bullying. Her post continued

"This is my child with such a caring heart that despite being so ill 'doesn't want anyone to get in trouble'... "This is my child who has stopped eating, has cried herself to sleep, had anxiety so severe she's up sick over 20 times in an hour through the night... "This is my child whose 'best friend' has emotionally abused her for so long she thought it was normal... "This is my child who has been in and out of hospital for countless trips due to being so sick with anxiety... "This is my child who was told off for 'telling tales at school'... "This is my child who has been mocked on social media by the bullies parents for just having such a pure heart...

"This is my child who when addressing the issues with her school we were told 'Its just 6 year olds being 6 year olds'... "This is my child who was told by the school she should be the one feeling ashamed and be snuck in a side door of a morning... "This is my child who her school failed her so badly that we had to move her schools... "This is my child who is one of too many that are going through this... "This is my child whose story is being twisted and manipulated by the very people that were meant to protect her at her school when she was in their care... "This is my child who doesn't want this to happen to anyone else. So this is my child's story we are sharing but she is one of many....too many!"

Carrie's post has been shared more than 280,000 times at the time of writing - and, in a  later post, she thanked everyone for the outpouring of support for their family. She said:

“I’ve had messages from people I don’t know. This is happening to too many people and it’s so wrong. “I have been inundated with such amazing messages from people that I don’t even know and I am trying to get through them all while I also work out how to allow you all to comment on the post. “You are all incredible I’m restoring our faith in people that has been stripped from us over the last couple months.”