After hundreds of bikers turned out to escort a bullied 10-year-old boy to school in Sydney, N.S. this week, the student’s mother says she has already noticed a change in her son as a result of the support he’s received.

Katie Laybolt told CTVNews.ca that she couldn’t believe the outpouring of support for her son’s story during Wednesday’s event.

“We never expected that kind of turnout,” Laybolt said on Thursday. “That much support and actual outrage coming from our community when we’ve been too long complacent is really good. I think we might be able to achieve some change down here.”

Approximately 200 leather-clad bikers riding loud motorcycles picked up Xander Rose from his home early Wednesday morning and drove him to Harbourside Elementary School in a large progression through Whitney Pier intended to show other students that bullying isn’t okay.

Rose had endured a particularly difficult school year filled with insults and even death threats hurled at him by other classmates.

Although it was a year the Grade 4 student would rather forget, Wednesday’s ride to school was one he’ll always remember.

Rose recounted his favourite part of the day during a phone interview on Thursday.

“I liked it when we were driving over the overpass because there were a whole bunch of speedbumps,” he said.

Laybolt said she’s already noticed a change in her son and said his confidence has gone up “tenfold” as a result of all of the attention and support they’ve received.

The young fan of motorcycles said he noticed a lot of surprised reactions on his fellow students’ faces when he arrived at school with an entourage of tough-looking bikers.

“They didn’t say much but I saw one person faint on the sidewalk,” Rose said.

The 10-year-old boy said he’d like to ride a bike of his own one day when he’s older. With a brand new leather vest given to him by Bay Boys Motorcycle Club, Rose will at least have the right attire for when that day comes.

Laybolt gave special credit to the Bay Boys club for being the first to come out and introduce themselves to her son after an online call to action by the U.S. children’s advocacy group Defenders of the Children a few weeks earlier.

She said they even took Rose for a practice spin on a bike so he would be comfortable on the day of the big ride.

“They did a really good job of making sure Xander’s feelings and confidence were in the forefront,” she said.

Despite the impressive turnout at Wednesday’s event, Laybolt said they faced some pushback from the school and police about the route the bikers would take and where they would be allowed to congregate.

She said many of the bikers were forced to ride to an area far away from the school and that only a few were allowed to escort him to the front doors. Laybolt said they were told it was out of concern for safety.

Even with the smaller group of bikers at the school, Laybolt said they were still able to deliver an important message to other children who may be going through the same things as her son.

“There are a lot of kids in our community right now hurting,” she said. “Hopefully this will get the message out there to all the kids that there are people listening and the community is paying attention and we understand what they’re going through. They have someone to reach out to.”