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A gay man who was bullied endlessly at school has received an apology from one of his tormentors – 20 years later.

ChadMichael Morrisette has revealed how the entire American football team of his school mocked him remorselessly while he was a pupil.

He said: “During junior high and high school I was bullied for being who I am.

“I was bullied for being gay. I was bullied for being little. I was bullied for every reason someone is bullied. It was awful.

“I couldn't even walk to classes without an adult escort or friends with me.”

The 34-year-old said he left school aged 15 and later moved from his home of Alaska to West Hollywood where he stopped thinking about the bullying – until he got a Facebook message last week.

In a post on the social network, Mr Morrisette put up a screenshot of the message from the one-time bully Louie Amundson.

The message said: “I was recently talking with my 10 year old daughter about bullies. She asked me if I ever bullied anyone and sadly I had to say "yes".

“What came to mind is how s***** and mean I was to you when we were in Jr. High. I want to apologize.

“If we lived in the same state I would apologize to your face. I don't even know if you remember, but I do and I am sorry.”

After seeing the message, Mr Morrisette told how it had left him feeling emotional – even though he did not remember the specific bully.

He replies to Mr Amundson: “I'm quite moved by this. Thank you and accept your apology. In 20 years you are the only person to apologize for being a bully to me when we were younger.

“I hope you can tell your daughter that you have also apologized for it, and that we are good. It's amazing what 20 years and children can do to us, no?

“Thank you again, and I hope you stand up to bulling anytime you see it. Have a great day!”

After the picture of conversation went viral, Mr Amundson told how he never expected anyone but Mr Morissette to see it, but that he was glad to have been forgiven.

He told Yahoo! Parenting: “[I felt] humbled and ashamed and relieved all at once.

“I owed him that apology, he did not owe me his forgiveness.”