Lying about breast cancer results in arrest

We hear about it every so often: a person claims to have a serious illness, such as cancer and ends up benefiting from the kindness of others as a result. Some take the ruse so far as to make the symptoms look real, shaving their head and such.

Once the deception is revealed, people are often very angry and resentful. I took part in a women’s forum a few years ago when this actually happened. A woman started posting that she had lung cancer and went as far as to chronicle her treatment and the lack of progress in stopping the disease. As women began to get to know her, they began offering not only a shoulder to lean on, some became involved in helping her in other ways, including having her stay in their home while supposedly waiting for more treatment.

You can see where the story is going. Her deception was discovered and the women who opened their hearts and homes to her were very upset. And this is where the damage is done. While some women who weren’t deceived felt that there was no real harm done, what this did to was to make many in the forum become gun-shy and much less willing to step forward when other women did become ill or experienced tragedies. And that is where the harm lies. If someone wants to claim illness, we can argue that it’s only herself she is hurting, but that’s not true. She’s hurting those who want to help and she’s hurting those who will need help down the road and who may not get it because others have been burned.

Now, another story has come out that a woman in Chatanooga, Tenn., not only claimed to have breast cancer over a course of five years, she collected donations of sick leave and money from co-workers. Last week, she was arrested for theft and forgery.

You can read more about the story here: Woman who lied about breast cancer arrested – obviously, people who do this do have problems. I hope she gets the help she needs but I also hope that her coworkers don’t become embittered from the experience.

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Image: MorgueFile

Tags: cancer blog, breast cancer, lying about cancer