It is not unusual to simulate ailments. For centuries, people have avoided duties, meetings and conversations under the pretext of feeling unwell, often reaping considerable benefits from it. But pretending to have cancer – a disease that changes your whole life and often ends it too quickly – seems to be an extremely toxic hoax. Unfortunately, there are still many people who build their lives on it.
- A young English woman pretended to be a cancer patient in front of her teacher. To make the disease more plausible, she cut her hair at the roots to make it fall out while brushing
- Another UK citizen raised money for her own wedding and honeymoon thanks to a fundraiser for the treatment of her alleged cancer
- People who pretend to have cancer do not always cheat to extort money – they often want to “only” derive satisfaction from someone’s sympathy
- In Poland, there is a story of a young woman who falsified all medical records for the treatment of alleged stomach cancer. Consequently, the doctors excised her organ
- You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page
Elisa White
Hailing from the English town of Fowey, Cornwall, the girl was 17 years old when she asked for help from a health and social care teacher who was teaching the university course she enrolled in. The teenager was in a terrible life situation. She recently found out that she was suffering from cancer, her condition was deteriorating, and her mother and stepfather – addicted to alcohol – had just kicked her out of the house. 49-year-old Sally Retallack had no reason to disbelieve her protégé. She had known her for a year, she had watched her during classes, Elisa Bianco seemed like a nice and open-minded young woman. She could not allow the last months of her life to be marked by a family tragedy.
When Bianco asked if she could stay at her house for a few days, the teacher agreed. A few days quickly became weeks, and then months. The teenager made himself at home both in the apartment and in the life of the merciful Retallack, who spared no efforts to make the girl’s last moments more pleasant (Bianco told the babysitter that she had three months left).
She not only gave her a roof over her head, but also paid for a place at the university, invested in learning equipment, and even bought her “last” trip, spending 2,5 thousand zlotys on it. pounds, and organized a farewell party, for which she disguised herself as an angel before “ascending to heaven”.
Finally, the babysitter gently suggested to Elisa that she should continue her studies. Bianco reluctantly but agreed to try. She lasted three weeks. She came back claiming that she was unwell, she had hematuria and circulatory problems. Before Sally realized what was going on, the charge started calling her “mom” and her own family – her husband and four children – began to move away from her because she had no time for them (whenever she wanted to spend it with them, “Sick” was “getting worse” and required her increased attention). There was also no time for work, because she took Elisa to the hospital every day for tests and chemotherapy. Or so the girl said.
In fact, Bianco was saying goodbye to the babysitter in the hospital locker room, from where she went to a coffee shop or a nearby shopping center. There, she stuck patches at the sites of alleged infusions and blood samples, and prepared false medical documentation. The credibility of the therapy was to be confirmed by its side effects in the form of hair loss. Elisa cut them at the base so that they would break while brushing and remain on the brush. She also came up with the idea to put an empty bottle under her blouse, which when pressed looked like the sound of breaking ribs.
To “face” the hoax she had created, she used two laptops and five cell phones, which she had “assigned” to doctors and nurses, informing Retallack of the progress in the treatment of her ward. She received money from her parents, who regularly topped up her account so that she could study. Of course, they weren’t alcoholics.
The lie came when the teacher’s husband also found the girl’s father, who confirmed that she had never had cancer. Just in case, the three of them – the Retallack couple and Mr. Bianco – went to the hospital where Elisa was being treated. She was never heard of there.
When the case was reported to the police, Elisa Bianco admitted that the illness and poor family situation were a fraud. Ultimately, the court sentenced her to 32 months in prison, and the sentence was later reduced to 24 months (the court took into account the psychological damage allegedly caused by the whole case). Sally Retallack, who had been cheated by Bianco for four years, suffered the most damage. During this time, she lost her job, her husband and – most likely – her faith in people.
Tony Standen
Elisa Bianco cheated to make an emotionally empathetic teacher dependent on herself, but the motives of people pretending to be cancer patients tend to be more down-to-earth. A material purpose was pursued by, for example, another British woman – Toni Standen, who lied about cancer in order to get money for her own… wedding. The 29-year-old was collecting funds on one of the crowdfunding portals. In the description, she introduced herself as a person suffering from ovarian cancer, who only had two months to live. Her action gained considerable popularity – Toni “followed” many observers, and she gave two interviews to the local media, and she even received wishes from one of the Everton FC players.
To make the message more credible, she regularly attached photos of her seemingly deteriorating physical condition (on one of them she even had her hair shaved), describing the progression of the disease in detail. Thanks to the fundraiser, she managed to collect over 8,3 thousand. pounds. Even her friends, whom she told systematically and in detail about the progress (or lack thereof) in the treatment and development of a cancer that quickly spread to other organs, were trapped in lies.
The woman did not hesitate to announce another dream: she wanted to be led down the aisle by her father, who was really suffering from cancer at the time. The man did not live to see the ceremony, and during the ceremony, Toni broadcast a video of his wishes. After a wedding party for 150 people, the woman and her newly married husband left for a honeymoon in Turkey. Everything was paid for by donated money.
Doubts as to the veracity of Standen’s confessions arose among the woman’s acquaintances. Followers of her profiles on social media were surprised that she traveled around Europe in such a state. When asked for an explanation, she admitted that her illness was fictional. A telephone conversation between three friends was recorded. For the fraud, a Liverpool resident was sentenced to five months in prison. She was also obliged to return the donation in the amount of PLN 2. pounds donated by a local businessman, touched by its story.
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Polish scammers
The fraud related to suffering from cancer has no nationality – cases of people pretending to be cancer are also known in Poland. Three years ago, the case of a 29-year-old woman from the district of Wągrowiec (Greater Poland Voivodeship) was famous, who swindled 20 thousand people. PLN from a foundation supporting cancer patients. The woman cheated on the organization for three years by taking funds to travel to the hospital where she allegedly treated glioma.
In the meantime, she published information about her condition on social media, building a fictional social network: in addition to her account, she also ran profiles of her fake family and friends from the oncology department who “commented” on her posts. She also worked on her appearance and behavior in order to resemble cancer patients as much as possible: she wore wigs, stuck special plasters at the injection sites, and even tried to speak in a manner characteristic of people after surgery.
The investigation showed that the charge of the foundation also falsified medical records and made up her biography using false personal data. She had experience in this because similar episodes had happened in her life before. Over the years, she has defrauded several charities and many donors who, moved by the story, deposited money into her account.
Aleksandra D., known as Aleks Joanna and Joanna Dawidowicz, among others, “dropped in” when one of the foundations she asked for support asked her for medical documentation. When she was refused, she launched an unofficial investigation. Together with another foundation, she found a false medical certificate, the author of which was a woman. The fraud finally heard 11 charges.
Disease breeds disease
The motives of people pretending to be cancer patients vary widely, but some of them really do suffer from a serious illness – but of a psychological nature. Experts analyzing cases of this type of fraud point to the fact that these people repeatedly show symptoms of Münchhausen’s substitute syndrome.
While this disorder is known to be common as causing another (usually a close) person to develop a somatic disorder designed to make them take medication and become dependent on the caregiver, it can also be self-directed. The patient then persuades himself and others that he is sick and even begins to feel certain ailments characteristic of a given disease. He is satisfied with the interest of others, recognition as sick and referral to treatment.
The sham disorder was diagnosed, among others, in a young woman from a small town in the Gliwice poviat (Śląskie Voivodeship) who claimed to be suffering from stomach cancer. The 24-year-old built her fictional medical history so well that even doctors believed it. For the visit to the oncologist, she brought a complete set of tests performed in nearby medical facilities, including computed tomography, and in the hospital to which the doctor referred her – also medical documentation from the previous hospitalization. It all pointed to a tumor that needed urgent surgery. Doctors performed it without undue delay, and although they did not find the lesions identified in the examinations on the surgical table, they noticed numerous white tumors. A decision was made to remove them – along with the stomach, spleen, lymph nodes and part of the esophagus.
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Postoperative histopathological examination showed a surprising result: no cancer cells were found in the samples taken, the tissues were healthy. This discovery coincided with the anonymity received by the patient’s mother. He reported that her daughter’s healthy organs had been removed in the hospital. It turned out that the message was sent by the victim herself.
In the course of the investigation, the prosecutor’s office found that the girl had falsified all medical documents. She downloaded the results of the research from forums for people suffering from gastric cancer, and then processed them in graphic programsby inserting your details and changing the names of hospitals and doctors.
The case of the medics who decided to operate the 24-year-old without re-diagnostics was discontinued. The experts ruled that in a life-threatening situation, doctors could not waste time on re-examinations and waiting for their results, especially since they had fresh and (seemingly) reliable medical documents at their disposal.
The case of a young woman from Pyskowice clearly shows how far-reaching consequences a fraud can have. While most of the stories of people pretending to be cancer patients do not end so tragically, everyone is harmed. The broken image of the impostor, however, is nothing compared to the profession of trust of donors who, once deceived, will think twice before helping another person in their need.
We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time Joanna Kozłowska, author of the book High Sensitivity. A Guide for Those Who Feel Too Much »says that high sensitivity is not a disease or dysfunction – it’s just a set of characteristics that affect the way you perceive and perceive the world. What are the genetics of WWO? What are the perks of being highly sensitive? How to act with your high sensitivity? You will find out by listening to the latest episode of our podcast.