Maltese and Gozitan people have come out in force after one of the most inspirational children on the island, Jake Vella, became the target of a distasteful meme.

The meme, which revolves around a fat joke, was posted yesterday at 8am and has already garnered over 930 comments – most of which are from angry Maltese people condemning the weak joke and defending Jake.

“It’s interesting how you’ll always find those who will be mean and idiotic, but those people give us more strength to be there for Jake’s sake, and from here I would like to thank the Maltese and Gozitans from the bottom of our heart for the support and for showing their anger with their messages that filled us up with such courage,” Marouska Vella, Jake’s mother, told Lovin Malta.

Jake suffers from ROHHAD, Rapid-onset Obesity with Hypothalamic Dysfunction, Hypoventilation and Autonomic Dysregulation. There are only 75 known cases of this condition worldwide, and it is both incurable and life-threatening; the longest-living survivor of ROHHAD was 22 years old before she died.

Triatholan Malta responded with their own meme, which quickly racked up over 850 shares in less than a day and inspired similar posts

Parliamentary Secretary for Sport Clifton Grima also stepped in, calling the meme “irresponsible and irrational”, while others like Sliema local councillor Pierre Portelli did not hold back

Journalist Brian Hansford reported the meme and is going to feature Jake’s family, as well as Inspector Sandro Camilleri, on tonight’s episode of Realta’

What do you think of this meme?

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Johnathan Cilia

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]