Sam hit by stammer abuse but he won’t be silenced

Rotherham's Sam Bagshaw (29) has built a huge following by sharing encouraging videos aimed at inspiring others who stammer to live confidently.

But he has now found himself subjected to a wave of vile memes and abusive messages mocking the way he speaks.

It is a humiliating twist to what has been a hugely positive experience to this point.

Sam, from Aston, will talk about his recent experiences as a guest on Friday on ITV's flagship breakfast television programme Good Morning Britain.

Sam's courageous journey to confront his stammering story has been covered by the Advertiser previously – a self-made film of him ordering a bacon sandwich in an Aughton café has now received a dizzying 24 million views.

A more recent video where he tests himself on pronunciation attracted 8.3 million viewers.

He told us: "TikTok readers can now post pictures and videos in the comments and some people have been screen-shotting from my videos where I am struggling to get my words out.

“Maybe they find it funny because of the way I look.

"I don't know why they do it, I think it is a lot of younger people doing it.

"Maybe they have never met anyone with a speech impediment and my video will be the first time they have seen someone struggling.

"I am always trying to challenge myself and get out there, showing others in a way that I hope is inspirational.

"It (the abuse) started in the last few months – don't know why anybody would want to try and embarrass me.

“They just want to humiliate me and cause me pain and presumably stop me doing videos.

"I don't reply to not-nice comments, if I did they'd only post something back.

"People have said to me that I normally get the nicest comments on the app, but then there are these other ones who found my account."

Sam, who works as a warehouseman for a company in Orgreave Road, won't be deterred by the mischief-makers and doesn't rise to the bait by responding to trolls.

"Yes, it is hurtful, but it's not going to put me off.

“I'm going to keep on going.

“I still enjoying thinking of what new videos I can put out there.

Sam is an ambassador for the Action for Stammering Children charity.

In April, he raised £3,000 for them by taking part in his first marathon, in Brighton where he completed the run.

But it is his social media work where he hopes to help others like him the most.

He will discuss that on Good Morning Britain at their London studio.

He isn't worried being nervous on live TV.

"It will be a bit different for me, but I think it should be fine.

“You just have to think that you are having a chat, really."

He hopes the national publicity will bring him new followers, as he is keen to spread the word about overcoming stammering to as many people as possible.