This Mom’s Kids Are The Real Victims Of Her Terrible Cancer Scam

Screen Shot 2014-11-05 at 9.45.24 PMElizabeth Edmunds, a 31-year-old mother of six in Australia, had the saddest story in the world. She had ovarian cancer and just three years left to live. She was leaving behind a loving husband and six soon-to-be motherless children. She also needed expensive medical treatments, and since her story would make the most hardened Internet jerk cry, the Internet opened up its heart and wallet to help out. Then the whole thing turned out to be a horrible hoax.

According to Buzzfeed, in the beginning of September a Facebook group called Help for Elle shared Edmunds’ story and started asking for donations, because her cancer treatments reportedly cost at least $1,600 every month. Help for Elle was started with the help of a nice lady named Jessica McKay, who reportedly wanted to help because she was moved by Edmunds’ story and had had family members with cancer.

On top of the Facebook page, McKay left donation tins at local businesses to collect money for Edmunds.

Heartbreaking photos showed Edmunds kissing her children and shaving her head after starting “chemo.”

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(Facebook/Help for Elle, Via Buzzfeed)

A GoFundMe campaign in Edmunds’ name raised over $2,000 before it was suddenly shut down, because this week the whole thing was revealed to be a scam. Even Edmunds’ family was tricked. Her husband appears to have been caught completely by surprise, and was understandably stunned and horrified.

He posted:

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(Facebok, Via Buzzfeed)

This story is genuinely appalling. Edmunds made her own family think she had cancer. What must those kids have gone through? I can’t even imagine what her partner must have felt upon learning the truth. On the one hand, discovering one’s partner does not have cancer is great, but discovering that one’s partner could fake cancer is horrible beyond imagination.

For her part, Jessica McKay is pissed.

“People like this in my opinion deserve a jail term because I honestly cannot comprehend why someone would want to fake to have cancer that is just disgusting!!!” McKay wrote on a Facebook update on October 31. “It is such a horrible thing to do and with all the people who have had and who have cancer this is just a disgusting act.”

McKay said all the donations will be returned to those who want refunds, while anything else and any donations that can’t be returned will be sent to sick children at the Westmead Hospital in Sydney.

Police in New South Wales are investigating the case, but no arrests have yet been made. According to the Daily Telegraph, when asked to explain herself Edmunds simply said, “I’ve got extremely serious mental health issues.”

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