Saturday, March 14, 2015
A Cancer Patient Who Followed Belle Speaks Out
I got this email from a woman with cancer who followed Belle. She gave me permission to share it.
Hi Violet,
Thank you so much for your blog. As a cancer survivor, it has meant the world to me to have this perspective brought to light. I started following @healing_belle in 2013, just as her star was rising.
I always kinda knew Jess Ainscough was a quack (though she did make me feel extremely guilty & self conscious that my healing journey wasn't as 'beautiful' as hers seemed to be) however I fell for Belle Gibson's story hard.
She didn't seem to be too 'out there', didn't talk about coffee enemas or too hippy shit beyond crystals (I don't believe they have powers, but hey, they're pretty so I don't mind the pictures in my feed).
Her recipes were clever & delicious, she straight up made me eat more vegetables than I was and juice way more often and her story gave me a great push forward to healing in my own way (going through conventional treatment) supported by a kick ass diet.
However, I most resonated with her because of her posts on cancer. I was going through something I didn't know how to talk about, what language to use, I didn't even tell anyone I worked with I had cancer - I just took a leave.
And here was this girl, so much braver than I, telling the world her story & inspiring people like me across the world. I even remember scrolling through her feed in my hospital bed the day after my surgery, looking for inspiration & hope from someone who'd been there and knew how much it sucked.
I wished I could be as strong as her, to heal myself with food and a natural approach but I was scared, everything moved so quickly and I had a fundamental faith in science & medicine that propelled me to jump into treatment within 24 hrs of diagnosis. Nonetheless, it was a tremendously tumultuous year where I doubted myself and my choices, especially compared to the sexy, modern & all natural cancer-fighting style of Jess Ainscough and Belle Gibson. It was rare to see cancer icons that were my own age and were full of life despite their diagnoses (it seemed).
So you can imagine how sad I was when the news started to unravel. I had had my own doubts for a while but was still holding out for an updated statement from her camp, but then I followed this 'rabbit trail' and just can't believe her anymore about anything.
So regardless of the stuff to come, I've 100% given up on this turning out as some kind of misunderstanding.
That's something big for me: I downloaded her app at first chance, I told my mom/friends/shopkeeper to get it too, I purchased all her Holiday Pack upgrades, posted solidarity instagrams dedicated to her when her health took a turn, made her recipes & actively participated in #thewholepantry community. I even paid double to have her book shipped overseas from Australia because I couldn't wait for the wider release.
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Thanks for sharing that - SO sorry you've had to deal with cancer to begin with, but especially sorry that situation was complicated by Belle's campaign of deceit.
ReplyDeletePretending you've beaten cancer without medicine, and splashing glossy photos of your healthy self all over the internet while others are lying in hospital beds after surgery, is unconscionable. I sincerely hope the tragic death of Jess Ainscough and the recent exposure of Belle Gibson makes it easier for patients like you in future.
You mention that Belle seemed "so much braver" and "stronger" than you, and that you experienced guilt, fear, self-consciousness and doubt. I hope now that the tables are turned, you can reclaim some of those positive labels for yourself. By the sounds of it, you tackled your cancer diagnosis rationally, wisely and with great courage.
I am part of the local health/wellness/food blogger scene. Boy do I have stories to share. I was, it felt like, the only person I knew of in that circle that wasn't duped or head over heels with this nasty girl. I caught her on small lies and millions of inconsistent stories through her feed, to the point where I never wanted to give her the pleasure of becoming yet another adoring follower. Notice the always negative vibe on her IG? If you scroll through the comments you can sense her real persona through her crass replies. Using other people's photos without
ReplyDelete...photos and recipes without crediting the original writer/photographer? Yes, this happend at least once to my knowledge.
DeleteI never really followed her until this story broke, and what I did know came from media interviews etc., so I've been quite stunned to discover the bitterly negative tone of her remarks on social media. She doesn't come across as the serene goddess the media portrayed her as.
DeleteThe whole phenomenon is really fascinating. She never said or did anything meaningful, the money for charities didn't go to charities, her advice was dodgy, she clearly didn't follow her own diet, and she didn't have cancer, but somehow she managed to spin her own story in such a way that the media just fawned over her. It's so bizarre reading stories or listening to interviews now - people were just enamoured with her. I hope society will be more cautious in future, and stop beatifying people just because they claim to be dying.
You're right, it is incredibly fascinating. I am starting to think that the human brain is simply not able to cope with social media in one very interesting way: a person on the internet you do not know is still a stranger to you. There were several comments from Belle's followers about how they felt they knew her. But of course they didn't. The only people who know Belle are the people who know her. You can judge the character of a person you know in real life, but you cannot do that with someone you only "know" through social media. However, it seems that the human mind can easily be tricked into thinking it knows a person who is actually a stranger.
DeleteI think you're right. It's amazing how often people use the word "love" when talking about Belle. They loved her, they loved her passion, they fell in love with her, she was so loving, there was so much love in the room, she prepares her recipes with so much love, etc. Has the word "love" finally lost all meaning, or what? People were under the impression that the glow of positivity and health and happiness surrounding Belle was all the proof they needed of her authenticity. Or, in her own words, "rawness" and "honesty."
DeleteBelieve me, you weren't the only one in the health/wellness world. There was a large and ever-growing group that were tallying her lies but could not disprove her cancer claims. She was not a nice person and I was always shocked when people gave her glowing references. I thought she was so cold in person that it was uncomfortable. She appeared wonderful online, but totally vacant in person.
Delete"Vacant" is the perfect word to describe how she comes across.
DeleteThis has happened many times in the online fandom world over the past ten years. The only difference between all the other "I have cancer, woe is me!" bloggers and Belle is that she took it on the road, so to speak. It's a level of hubris that is rather shocking, and yet it makes a certain sick sense.
DeleteAll the other women -- mostly girls in their late teens but not all -- who did this and were eventually exposed, worked in relatively small groups of people who had built up a level of trust, and were either already known (or at least had made up a convincing story prior to trying their frauds) or had friends (who thought they knew them) in the community. This made them vulnerable when someone claimed to have a terminal illness, a sick child or pet, a family member in an accident -- we don't suspect our book or yarn club friends of being con artists. But it also made it easier to connect the dots and spot the inconsistencies, in a small group where everyone talks. Thus the practice of going from fandom to fandom to start over.
On a larger scale, in an era where media is all about "clicks" instead of content, the anonymity of the virtual big city versus the small town let her get away with it longer and more brazenly than those other cases, whose victims would work to prevent the same predators from getting away with it in other circles. But the MO is very much the same, even though most of the Munchausen Grifters were small time, looking for attention and sympathy as much as the money and presents (copying someone else who really had had sn illness and trying to upstage them is how it usually started, also the pattern of escalating diseases is very red flaggy!)
The MO of dissolving into floods of tears and deflecting histrionics is also typical, along with blaming the grift on everthing snd everyone else in the world! But Belle was an amateur compared to some of these kids, who even convinced their own relatives they were seriously ill, by shaving their heads and fasting or using makeup to look like chemo side effects.
But then she was vain, as well as canny: the point of this con was to get the sympathy and gifts while still being able to embody her name! Will Belle Gibson try it again? Undoubtedly, though probably not in quite such a public way.
Also should add that Gibson takes it to an additional level of sociopathy in her peddling of snake oil -- the other hobbyist grifters were various levels of greedy and needy and stole from people who often had little enough of their own, violated the community trust and made it likely that truly deserving charitable causes would suffer in the future.
DeleteBut none of them were peddling dangerous fake cures to people like the OP! For this reason I think Gibson needs to be watched closely, and her fainting flower act (a poor orphan girl now!) given all the respect a serial reinventor with a history of this sort of thing deserves!
Belle first caught my attention early last year, not long after I'd had brain surgery to remove a recurrent brain tumour, which unfortunately has turned aggressive. My cousin had downloaded her app and was raving about her beautiful, healthy recipes. This particular cousin was trying to get her body ready for pregnancy and she was inspired to start eating well. She told me about this young woman who also had a terminal brain tumour. I didn't really know any other young people with brain tumours, so naturally I was very curious.
ReplyDeleteI read about Belle and was impressed with her drive and her "get up and go" attitude. She was inspiring I suppose. Cancer can suck the life out of you and make you feel helpless and unmotivated. Here was Belle, young and successful, supposedly defying the odds. For a very short time there, I almost dared to hope. Perhaps she was one of these lucky ones, living with an aggressive brain tumour for more than 5 years (!!). Stranger things have happened.
I've never once believed that my diet will cure my brain tumour. My oncologist told me long ago that diet is irrelevant and I believed him. I grew up on a farm and was eating out of a veggie patch all my life - you can't get more organic than that! I knew that I didn't get my tumour from a poor diet and I knew that changing my diet wasn't going to fix it either. The way my tumour behaves in my brain is completely out of my control. People like to have control over their bodies and that's why they have a hard time accepting this. I guess that's why I never bothered downloading Belle's app or buying her book. However, this didn't stop me from following her closely over the last 12 months. Over this time, I discovered many holes in her stories and became suspicious of her claims.
I am ecstatic that the two Age journalists have finally uncovered Belle's deception. I have been waiting a long time for this day to come.
Belle still hasn't provided any evidence that she has a brain tumour. As someone that has been living with a brain tumour for many years, I can tell you now, I know she doesn't it have one.
I only hope now that Apple has the courage and integrity to reject her App. There's no doubt that Belle built her business on living with terminal cancer. She won many loyal fans because of this hook and Apple cannot overlook this.
Well said, Suzie. Especially this:
Delete"I knew that I didn't get my tumour from a poor diet and I knew that changing my diet wasn't going to fix it either. The way my tumour behaves in my brain is completely out of my control."
The funny thing about all this "wellness" stuff is that it's marketed as a positive attitude, but in fact it feeds on blame and guilt. If you get cancer, it's your fault. If the cancer doesn't go away, it's your fault. If you die, it's because you didn't try hard enough. When Jess Ainscough died, the Gerson Institute issued a statement saying Jess "discontinued the Gerson Therapy in 2012," just to remind us that it was her fault. She just didn't didn't drink enough green juice!
I'm so sorry you have a brain tumour, but I applaud your calm and courage. I hope for your sake, and others like you, Belle Gibson is brought to justice. I hope, too, that it's the beginning of the end for cancer quackery.
Thanks so much for sharing you story, Suzie. Can I just ask you some things that stood out to you about Belle's brain cancer story as being false? I know we hit on some things here, but I would like to hear from someone who actually has brain cancer.
DeleteBelle says she was diagnosed in 2009 with terminal brain cancer after suffering a stroke at work. I presume her colleagues called an ambulance at the first sign of stroke symptoms and that she was admitted to emergency. An MRI would have picked up a brain tumour straight away and yet Belle tells us that a doctor told her three weeks later when she was all alone (how convenient). This doctor also told her she had six weeks to live, three months max. This indicates she was diagnosed with a high-grade Glioblastoma (GBM), a particularly aggressive brain tumour. I find it hard to believe that Belle is still alive and has "stable" scans, 5 years after rejecting treatment.
DeleteStandard treatment for brain tumours is surgery, followed by chemotherapy and radiation. Belle has never mentioned surgery. I believe this is because there is NO surgeon to verify her claims.
Belle said she passed out and woke up in a pool of vomit after having radiation and chemotherapy. I find this really hard to believe. Radiation causes mild fatigue and hair loss. The chemotherapy she would have been taking would have been Temodar, which is taken orally once a day and has rather mild side effects. I have had both treatments and neither caused me to pass out in my own vomit.
Belle talked about seizures lasting for 40 minutes. In my experience, my seizures have never last beyond 3-5 minutes.
Belle posted about her cancer spreading. Primary brain tumours do not generally spread outside the central nervous system.
Brain cancer has NO CURE and yet despite her enormous power and influence, Belle never felt the need to raise awareness of the disease. This always struck me as odd. Anyone who genuinely has a brain tumour knows there's not a lot of time to muck around. We are all living on borrowed time. Belle has a 4 year-old son....surely she wants to see him grow old? Why would she risk not having the right medical care? This always made me suspicious.
FINALLY...
This Forum provides a really good insight into the lives of 'real' brain cancer patients, the treatment decisions they face and the complexity of the disease. If you have a chance, I highly recommend you take a look. You will be in no doubt that Belle is a fraud after reading some of this stuff, trust me.
www.cancerforums.net - Brain Tumors Forum
Suzie, that's fascinating and informative. You're right, her story just doesn't ring true. I was always suspicious of the story of her waking up in the park the next morning after throwing up and passing out. If the side effects of her radiation were so dangerous, why didn't she have anyone to pick her up from the hospital? Was she planning on walking home? Why did no one see her lying on the ground in obvious need of medical assistance? I've passed out before, but not for a whole night. I'm suspicious that she would be lying on the cold hard ground in the open air for a whole night, essentially in a coma. And why did no one raise the alarm when she didn't make it home that night?
DeleteIn fact, all of her stories depict her battling this deadly disease totally alone. I found it strange that she told Elle magazine that she didn't know her father, and had had to dump her mother after the cancer diagnosis, because she didn't handle it well. Her ex "co-parents" the kid, and her new boyfriend is somewhat of a question mark. She seems to have gone to great lengths to explain to the world that she is doing this ALONE. In fact, at the end of the Elle magazine article she said:
"All my love, thank yous and strength goes to those who silently, courageously battle, and to those who let go when they are ready to. Please don't try and carry me or my pain. I've got this."
I think she's talking to you, Suzie. Please don't try to carry her pain! SHE'S GOT THIS! *rollseyes*
In all seriousness, I'm just so sorry about what you're going through, but so grateful for your rational attitude. I imagine you've come across a lot of well-meaning people who offer foolish advice or lame motivational platitudes. If this whole Jess Ainscough and Belle Gibson debacle stirs up some resistance to what Violet calls "fantasy-based medicine," then all this discussion will be worthwhile.
Suzie, could you please email me at violetrealitybased@gmail.com. I will keep all your information completely private and confidential. Thanks, Violet.
DeleteSuzie ( et al) , I think you are too polite. I don't want to be harsh here but it is interesting how differently we read Belle's posts before and after, now that her credibility is gone... When one goes back and re-reads/reconsiders her posts she was actually very manipulative. Underneath her aspirational and selfless statements she used the right language to get vulnerable people 'on the hook'. I dont believe in conspiracies I'm not sure she is really that clever-but it makes what she did even more cold blooded. She is clearly disconnected from the reality and has no conscience.
DeleteOh believe me, I have been pretty worked up about Belle in the past - just ask my family and friends!
DeleteI am no psychologist and I have no idea why she did what's she's done but I agree that she was totally manipulative.
only_belle is her personal IG account. If you scroll to the very beginning you can see the cancer and pregnancy termination story unfold.
ReplyDeleteWow... how many different social media accounts does this chick have?!
DeleteYou do need to follow her to see the pics, though. The account is set to private. Also it's "onlybelle," with no underscore. :)
DeleteScreenshot everything please
DeletePlenty of wellness bloggers have been personally catfished by Belle as well - this one's a doozy:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theblondevegan.com/tag/belle-gibson/
I had the opportunity to meet Belle personally in New York nearly a year ago, and we became extremely fast friends. Actually, more than fast friends– we connected on a level of practically soul sister-ness that would be hard for me to capture in words. At our first dinner together, we laughed, cried, talked late into the night and literally held hands across the table while I confessed to her that I was transitioning away from veganism and was terrified what that would mean for my brand. Belle listened, offered a shoulder to cry on and gave me cut throat business advice that I still think about daily. She told me in a pragmatic and loving way, all at once, that I needed to change my blog/business name and I needed to do it stat.
Then she came to an event I was hosting two nights later, which was the first place that I publicly announced my transition from veganism. She stood in the back of the room, quietly, soaking in the night and offering her support. My friends and others in the wellness industry were beyond eager to meet her that night, as she was a huge inspiration to all of us — a celebrity in the wellness world and a physical embodiment of strength and success in the face of great adversity. She socialized, took pictures, hung out and slipped out of the room when the night was over.
We kept in touch here & there after that night, but with her being in Australia, battling cancer, working on book #2, raising her 3-year-old son, running one of the most successful iPhone/Android apps on the market, getting recognized internationally for her business success & being a notoriously “not good at texting people back” kind of person, I was not offended at all when our communication dwindled out.
When I found out that her cancer had returned with a vengeance (after a very public Instagram photo she posted saying that it had spread throughout her whole body), I cried for a solid afternoon. I couldn’t believe someone so young, so capable and so kind-hearted could possibly have to suffer so much. I reached out to Belle to offer my support & love many a time with no response, even offering to come to Australia and help with anything she needed.
I never heard back, and I wasn’t shocked. I figured she was receiving more support than she could even acknowledge, and I went on with my life in NYC and then in LA. Now, in the wake of strong allegations that she never had cancer, did not donate a single cent of her supposed non-profit app & book to charity, and has even lied about her age/name, I feel shocked, betrayed and wary to believe it all… but I know the allegations had to have stemmed from somewhere.
If the allegations are true, then I was manipulated, along with many, many other people out there, into believing her words as truth. I cried with her and held her hands while we talked about her fears of her cancer returning and all the friends she had lost to the disease. I am an optimist, so I would like to believe that there is at least partial truth to everything we discussed, but now I am not so sure.
Belle had told me that she donated 100% of the money from The Whole Pantry App & The Whole Pantry book to different charities – both cancer foundations & a foundation that supports angel babies, which Belle has also publicly talked about. There is no record of her donating any money anywhere to any charities. And while Belle says that she is 26, records indicate that she was born in 1991– making her a year younger than myself. (I don’t care how old you are, Belle! But what the heck?)
Okay, so I have been trying really hard not to snark here (against my normal personality type), because what we are discussing here is very serious, but do people really stay up all night crying because they are worried about how they will publicly announce that they are no longer vegan? For real? This is really something that happened? As in like not a joke? Two people actually sat across from each other, holding hands and crying, because one of them was fretting over how to no longer be a vegan. And then that person made a public announcement about her eating habits (because obviously everyone cares).
DeleteDoes this woman not realize that many human beings on this planet have no food at all?
yeah its all very dramatic..
DeleteI think though, that person was crying because of the fallout by announcing they are no longer vegan.. and the dosh/followers they lose. Its all about the money money money.
A lovely blogger I follow Natasha St Michael, has written posts about how she was badly bullied for announcing she was no longer vegan a few years ago. She is not a drama queen and thought nothing of it at the time, but even copped death threats about it.
I read that post too. I think she was crying because a) her business and website is called theblondvegan and her entire livelihood was based on being a vegan and b) the world of wellness is filled with militant, conditional and judgemental 'support' and so she knew what was coming. I went down the rabbit hole trying when searching Belle stuff and ended up reading the comments on the particular blog where she 'came' out as not being a vegan, and they were pretty far from love and light (one told her to die in fact). But yes, all the same, if you were a real cancer sufferer like Belle, I'd like to think you would be mildly outraged that someone was comparing their 'transition' from restrictive eating to my diagnosis of impending death.
DeleteI got the "reasoning" behind it, but it was still so ridiculous. I was picturing telling that story to my grandfather and seeing his reaction. Everyone do that right now. Hilarious, right?
DeleteI thought I was the only one! Reading the "blonde vegan balanced blonde" thing (thanks for the link, Janedj!) I was glad she reacted the way she did, but also a little bemused by the whole wellness vibe. This health bloggery phenomenon is like another UNIVERSE. I'm starting to see how the holes in Belle's story went unnoticed for so long. She just played the game. All you need is good looks, a slick blog, and a lexicon full of the right words ("journey," "wholeness," "healing," "balance," "inspiration..."). Even the "shoulder to cry on" and "cut throat business advice" is bizarre. How to you tell someone you just met they need to change the name of their blog "in a pragmatic and loving way?" And is that advice really "cut throat?" The language is SO emotionally loaded. I don't think Bill Gates and his underlings cry together over a herbal tea every time they make a business decision.
DeleteHi Violet, I confess I laughed as well. As i was reading about how they met and instantly connected, like "earth sisters who laughed and cried" or whatever I was thinking to myself "does that actually happen to people?" but then as I read on I realised Belle basically used the vegan blonde while she was in town and didn't reply to her at all once she left, well I had to laugh. They are all so shallow and fake and in a way, they made it easy to be duped by Belle. It really shows how fake they all are. It is not normal to meet someone and instantly feel like their best friend... You cant know someone for an hour or two and know how 'authentic' and 'true' they are.
DeleteYou don't know a person you just met at all! This is the problem with "bonding" over one subject matter.
DeleteI just want to reiterate that Belle lied about being vegan. She was called out a few times. So this woman was also conned on that point.
DeleteSorry, I meant it more to illustrate that this whole 'wellness' industry is very much motivated by money, and an underlying desire for fame. For the whole earth mother/live simply/authentically image they project, they certainly have a firm grasp on branding and carefully constructed imagery. I am just sick of it being classed as anything other than what it is: thin, attractive people selling themselves and making money off people who want to be thin/attractive. Now I am definitely being snarky.
ReplyDeleteSnark away. ;)
DeleteI actually think a little snark is warranted in the artificial uber-positive ecosystem of wellness bloggery. I read a response to the Belle crisis at breakfastcriminals.com and I was pretty angry that people are bending over backwards not to be "judgmental" or "negative." She turned it into a vague, philosophical reflection about "authenticity on Instagram."
It's interesting, too, that people who wrote about Belle described falling "in love with her passion," etc. It's all very heart/soul/intuition, and people seem to have switched off their minds.
I think you hit the nail on the head, Belle is young, skinny, attractive and tanned, and she sold her image. People wanted to be like her, plain and simple.
Absolutely. The only people empowered and who get their self esteem boosted by these filtered wellness gurus - are those who are not actually unwell at all. Those struggling with real illnesses, real image problems are made to feel inadequate, while those who fit in with the image feel smugly superior, think that THEY certainly must be doing it right (cue starting their own blog and Instagram feed) and all the while silently thanking the great wellness gods they're not sick/fat/ugly.
DeleteI think we need to return to being a little more judgmental. It was a distinct lack of judgments that created this whole mess.
DeleteHurrah! Violet for president. Of the internet.
DeleteAnd this is exactly why I said the lawyer would've told her she was "stuffed". As in there is no way to backtrack from this, no way to salvage this. And so now Belle is lashing out on her own on social media. No lawyer worth even their Mexican law degree would've advised her to speak out on social media like that. Unfortunately there are real people affected by this rubbish as seen by the OP but this is the extent of it. To try to give her excuses of mental illness and whatnot is just shameful.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm getting SO sick of people online saying "well, she's obviously very sick, just not in the way she said..."
DeleteNo. People who commit crimes do not automatically qualify for psychiatric conditions. If they did, people like Bernie Madoff and Lance Armstrong would not have been held accountable for their misdeeds.
A mentally ill person might THINK she's sick, or MAKE herself sick, or even LIE about being sick, but a mentally ill person does not accidentally found a successful business empire based on that lie, sell an app to the world's biggest multinational company, or market a book to the world's largest publisher. She's FAR too strategic to be merely "ill," and I wish people would call her actions what they really are: unethical, immoral and criminal.
People with personality disorders can function very well in the real world and can become enormously successful. We often read about CEOs of major corporations being psychopaths or sociopaths. Personality disorders are not like other mental illnesses such as bi-polar or schizophrenia which can severely impact on an individual's ability to function. Having a personality disorder is by no means an excuse for unethical, immoral or criminAl behavior, but it does go some way in explaining why these people behave as they do. Let's not forget that Belle had been displaying symptoms since high school. I do not have any sympathy for Belle and think the full weight of the law should fall upon her!
DeleteThe scary thing about personality disorders is that they are not easily identifiable, sufferers are usually in denial, and the function effectively (though destructively) in the works all around us.
DeleteOops! Should read ...and they function effectively (although destructively) in the world all around us.
DeleteWell said Ella !
ReplyDeleteSomeone mentioned her name was fake as well, anyone know her real name?
ReplyDeleteI don't think her name is fake. Her full name is Annabelle Gibson, but I am sure there are plenty of people called Annabelle who shorten it to Belle.
ReplyDeleteThe Sydney Morning Herald interviewed a business partner who was about to sign a deal with her or something, who said:
ReplyDelete"My accountant wanted some basic paperwork off us; full name, date of birth and address, and Belle said that might be an issue. She said 'I have several names that I go under ... it's a long story.'"
I think "Annabelle Gibson" is her real name, but maybe she wanted to throw the accountant off the scent? Finding out her birth details etc. would obviously [in fact DID obviously] open a whole can of worms. Belle must have known she couldn't keep all her secrets secret if people had access to her records.
http://www.mamamia.com.au/lifestyle/munchausen-internet-belle-gibson-rise-faking-online/
ReplyDeletePretty interesting screen shot in this article of a facebook post by Belle where she specifically states that she has been 'healing a severe and malignant brain cancer for the past few years with natural medicine, gerson therapy and foods'
DeleteI see the word "Munchausen" tossed around a lot, but I think that is not correct. Maybe a psychiatrist can back me up (or correct me) but it appears that Belle never went to the hospital or consulted with medical professionals. I am pretty sure that a Muncher does that.
DeleteI agree, Violet. People with Munchausen's syndrome tend to spend a lot of time consulting doctors and other medical professionals about their 'illnesses'. It is not uncommon for them to undergo exploratory surgery because doctors cannot figure out what is wrong with them, given their 'symptoms'. So sufferers tend to thrive on attention they get from medical professionals.
DeleteBelle's story sounds more like narcissistic personality disorder with elements of borderline personality disorder- being manipulative and seeking attention from others in various ways.
I'm still more persuaded by a diagnosis of "crime," probably with latent "shadiness" and underlying "rottenness of character." Left unchecked, these symptoms can develop into full-blown wealth, marked by excessive business-class trips and designer clothing.
DeleteYes, thank you, Violet! You just expressed exactly the reason why (imo) she doesn't have Munchausen's. She wasn't looking for the attention of doctors, in fact, they would be the last people she would want to meet, as they would have been able to disprove her outlandish cancer tales. She wanted the attention of unthinking fans, and the money that went along with her "success story".
DeleteThis emphasis on how she must be mentally ill is infuriating. Con artists are very calculating; people with mental health issues are usually the exact opposite, driven as they are by a brain chemistry that is beyond their control.
I'm really pissed off at the response from Elle Magazine. Violet, I wish you'd make a post about it.
ReplyDeleteMagazines like Elle (bluurgh), Cosmopolitan (blehh - i hear they gave her a 'fun, fearless female' award - atleast they got 'fearless' right) and Peppermint (who featured Belle as their cover girl - oh lordy!) should be accountable too.
Elle Mag especially because they admitted they had a tip off and completely disregarded it. Vanessa Lawrence (from Elle) says that the dates in the email were "too suspicious" to just let it go, but that's exactly what they did. Elle Magazine made no real effort to do any research despite having the resources, and published a story that was nothing but lies with the headline "the most inspiring woman you'll meet this year". Well, Elle Magazine, you're the ones who met her! You are responsible for writing that garbage headline. You are obviously a bunch of complete idiots. You are responsible for perpetuating and helping to peddle a dangerous lie. It wasn't until some investigative journalists at Fairfax with some actual integrity got hold of the story that the truth came out. Elle Magazine ends their piece by stating they hope Belle Gibson has the courage to 'admit fault', but i see no real admittance of fault in the piece by Lawrence, only excuses. An apology to your readers is what they deserve - for publishing a story without even bothering to verify it.
The saddest part to me is that Belle got away with all this because very obviously the staffers at Elle, Cosmo and Peppermint believe that cancer can be cured with white light and kale. I assume that the people who actually write the articles for these publications have university-level educations too. The "tip-off" was that Belle was claiming to have "healed" her cancer using food. They did not need any other signs that something was fishy about her story.
DeleteThere is still no word from Cosmo Australia or Peppermint. At least Elle admitted they messed up.
Cosmo Australia employs (or used to employ) Melissa Ambrosini to write a column on health. The girl has zero legitimate qualifications and peddles shit like "all illness is blocked energy". People look up to these B-school, IIN folk and yet no one asks "if you're so invested in health/business, why don't you go and get a recognized degree?" The fact is, they want to do things the easy way, make a quick buck. They will never actually treat a real patient or get a job in a proper healthcare organisation, people need to realise that before they trust these people's word.It's ludicrous to people like myself who actually KNOW these famous bloggers personally, that anyone would ever trust a word they say.
DeleteAll Elle had to do was to verify her age and then that email would have gained significance. The age could have been verified via ASIC records. Add to that all the materials people are digging up today were available to Elle when they published that article. But once again sloppy journalism and market cravings for feel good stories ruled the day. This trend is not just isolated to women's magazines. It happens in all media segments incl business and tech. Just look at the way media fell for Enron.
DeleteMy feeling was that even if Belle HADN'T been lying, they still should never have given the time of day to a woman claiming to cure cancer with food. It's incredibly foolish, and insulting to readers who have cancer, or have known someone with cancer.
Deletecosmpolitan just admitted to have been duped by belle: http://www.cosmopolitan.com.au/health-lifestyle/lifestyle/2015/3/an-honest-account-of-our-experience-with-belle-gibson/#_
Deleteit's annoying that the author concludes the article saying Belle needs help. Belle will never rehabilitate from her condition, psychopaths never change, they just play along.
I'm annoyed too by everyone saying she needs "help." This is a puzzling mindset. People who deliberately defraud others for monetary gain don't automatically qualify as "mentally ill." She needs to be brought to justice, not to a mental hospital.
DeleteHere's a link to an interview with Belle conducted in August 2013. Belle described (on TWP FB page 28th August 2013) the interview as "...scary. You know that feeling where the walls start to go down a bit...?" I'm sure genuine cancer sufferers will find her blase feelings toward the disease highly offensive. I wonder did she have P-Plates on that BMW she drove...
ReplyDeleteOops! Here's the link:
ReplyDeletehttp://pollynoble.com/2013/08/friday-foodie-belle-gibson-chocolate-nut-butter-cups/
I couldn't even finish reading, I found this woman particularly repulsive and normally i wouldn't be paying attention about news of another internet con artist but I lost my dad to cancer and also know that no matter what you eat or drink the disease won't go away, he consumed every super food or healing food on earth: kale, maca, noni, sacha inchi oil, guinea pig meat, etc etc with lots of faith and desperation. He just kept getting more sick by the minute. It was a long, painful and depressive journey for him and all people around him. And that's why reading news about this cunt makes me so angry, mocking the disease and made it look as such a joyride with her natural holistic shit that she probably doesn't even practice. I hope she gets punish at the fullest extent of the law and become a cautionary tale.
DeleteThat will be the Polly Noble who died of cancer...
DeleteWhose website sits there happily,with no mention whatsoever about the passing of Polly Noble, a perky photo of Polly forever jauntily sipping a glass of green juice adorning the chirpy "About Me" on the front page.
DeleteWell, that was truly nauseating. Poor 'abundance' - it's another word we've lost to the qua ... sorry, 'wellness bloggers'.
DeleteAnd I'm a bit worried about that 'raw alfredo pasta'. Wouldn't it be a bit too crunchy if you didn't boil the pasta?
And now we see the seizures put her at risk of haemorrhaging. In what world? Is it too much to ask to make your lies convincing? But why bother? Sadly, a lot of people fell for the narrative consistency of a D-grade slasher movie.
You're allowed to use the word "quack" here. It is a safe and happy place. A positive place.
DeletePeople, while you are it please read this too: Paleo diet cookbook for babies under investigation - http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2015/s4196490.htm
ReplyDeleteHere is a notable extract from above:
Blogger Charlotte Carr is too. Her website says Paleo healed what she writes was her young son's "compromised immune system, reverse toxicity and illness."One of her recipes for a "homemade formula" for infants up to six months of age is called the "Baby Building Broth". It's made from chicken bones, chicken feet and apple cider vinegar. One of the recipes in the new book that's at the centre of the controversy is a baby broth that reportedly includes liver and bones. Professor Heather Yeatman from the Public Health Association says some of the recipes are potentially dangerous for infants
....
There appears to be recommendations not to use either breast milk or an approved infant formula, but to provide other foods to infants under six months of age and that is really a big health risk.
Notably, on Charlotte Carr's blog, the baby broth recipe is still prominent front and centre, despite the book having been held back because of fears this recipe could KILL A BABY.
DeleteOn her blog, it still says the recipe is recommended for infants 0-6 months.
She says it's 'nature's penicillin' (wtf?).
She basically implies in the comments that it's fine to feed this to babies instead of breastmilk or formula.
There were a few concerned comments, which of course she has deleted.
http://www.bubbayumyum.com/recipes/baby-building-broth/
I think PENICILLIN is nature's penicillin.
DeleteMacMillan have just posted notification that this book is being pulled completel, thank god. 7-10 times the levels of Vit A, protein, iron, sodium. How badly do they want to eff up toddler kidneys with their breast milk broth substitute??
DeleteI can't work out why you'd substitute breast milk. Surely by comparison to it you are establishing its preeminence?
DeleteI think they're recommending it instead of packaged baby formula, for women who can't breastfeed, or are trying to get their baby onto other foods. Step one is to guilt all mothers into breastfeeding, all the time. Step two is to frighten those mothers who can't breastfeed into avoiding baby formula like the plague. Step three is to make everyone buy the paleo baby poison book. Step four is to feed the poor child lukewarm liver-water.
DeleteStep five, baby grows up hating parents.
Step five... IF baby gets to grow up.
DeleteI notice Charlotte Carr has amended that page to recommend the broth for 6-12 month olds. That is something I suppose.
It has been a really, really bad month for the woo peddlers hasn't it?
1. The exposure of the disgraceful scam that is Gerson Therapy
2. The exposure of the disgraceful scam that is The WHole Pantry
3. The exposure of Pete Evans as something more than a laughable zealot
So far, this is better than they year (I think 2010 or 2011) in which Peter Dingle was exposed by the WA Coroner and Meryl Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network was exposed by Stop the AVN. Certainly, there are more everyday people aware of these Alternative scammers now.
I think that people need to demand those raising money for illness provide medical proof of their diagnosis. If there is one thing we can learn from this, it should be that any person raising money or selling a product utilising their diagnosis, must provide evidence to do so. I would request that the media begin asking these questions immediately.
ReplyDeleteThat is one of the goals of this blog. The next person who comes along and claims that fantasy-based medicine cured/healed/whatever their cancer will be relentlessly pressed by me for the truth. But I agree with you that the media should be much more incredulous about these people. Pro tip for journalists: if the "miracle cancer story" winds up in the Technology or Lifestyle section of the newspaper, then you did something wrong.
DeletePerhaps this blog could be utilised to confirm cancer claims of those raising money. Develop a list of people currently raising money or selling product based on their illness and than begin to request evidence of diagnosis so people can at least check that these people are at least sick before donating.
DeleteIdeally we could have a group of "watchdogs" who contribute to this blog (I would have to change the formatting of course). Right now my work commitments are minimal so I am able to devote a lot of time to this but I know that will change soon. But I definitely want one place where all we do is demand the truth in these stories.
DeleteThat would be great.
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DeleteMy apologies! I was lost amongst all the other pages. Violet - would it be ok to delete my post?
Deletethis is about the cannabis oil not veganism
DeleteYeah sure. Which post? Time stamp? Really close to true bedtime so go easy on me and be really clear.
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DeleteAnonymous. You know i find people like you who hide whilst bagging and seeking to destroy other peoples lives, sickening. My family owe you nothing and sure as hell no proof of Joshua's illness, however ICAN CONFIRM it. Penne owes nobody a thing. You are all like a pack of vultures, one story from one woman and you are out to discredit anyone and everyone. Stop hiding behind your false id here you sack of shit and post your name because you are pretty dam good at trashing other's names. SHAME ON YOU, you disgusting human being and all of you here that join this witch hunt. SHAME ON YOU ALL !
Delete@Juliann Fraser. Can you email me at violetrealitybased@gmail.com. I will keep your person info private.
DeleteJuliann, I think what people were wondering was if it was something that Belle just made up. The accusation was against her and not Joshua, but I do not want this blog to discuss children, so I am going to delete those posts. I still would like if we could have a brief discussion about this though. So please email me. It will be a completely confidential conversation.
DeleteAs this thread has been deleted, I won't say too much here, but I do feel that anyone who raises funds online for whatever reason should be expected to provide documentation, esp when extraordinary claims are being made. I don't understand why the mere suggestion drives some people to such rage. If it was me, I would just post a couple of medical reports and be done with it. Case closed.
DeleteI agree with you there, especially since this has happened many times in the past. The reason I deleted it and do not want it discussed here is because it involves a child.
DeleteI keep reading people is concern about Belle's son, please stop worrying or next thing we'll see is Belle announcing her son has cancer and this time she'll try to be more creative
ReplyDeleteUgh, you have a point. So glad she was busted before she thought of that.
DeleteViolet, Kim Reddy is your kind of girl. Note how she is giving it to Pete Evans and his naturopathy mates. http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/pete-evans-you-have-really-pissed-me-off/story-fnet08xa-1227264838890
ReplyDeleteAbove article reproduced below. All credits go to original Authors/Publishers.
DeletePART 1:
‘Pete Evans, you have really pissed me off’
MARCH 16, 2015 2:54PM
My Kitchen Rules judge Pete Evans has attracted a barrage of criticism for his new paleo cookbook, aimed at babies, toddlers and new mothers.
TODAY Pete Evans’ publisher Pan Macmillan announced they will no longer be publishing his controversial baby paleo cookbook, after health experts warned “a baby may die if this book goes ahead.”
“The authors of Bubba Yum Yum The paleo Way, for new mums, babies and toddlers have decided to release a digital version of the book very shortly, and will therefore no longer publish the book, in any format, with Pan Macmillan Australia,” a spokeswoman told news.com.au.
Evans and his co-authors will self publish the digital version “in the next week or two,” Evans confirmed on his Facebook page.
With that in mind, Aussie mum Kim Reddy has written this open letter to Pete Evans, asking him to “stop being a jerk and go back to being a chef.”
Dear Pete Evans,
You are a famous chef. You are a popular television host. You are a best selling author.
It seems to me you need reminding of the fact that you are admired and respected by thousands of people around Australia and parts of the world. You collectively have over 832,000 followers across your various social media channels together with the millions of television viewers tuning in and watching you.
These people see your life as pretty amazing. I mean, you travel the world to gorgeous locations with other well-known and respected chefs and celebrities all with your family in tow, you cook and eat beautiful looking food, your partner is a babe and your daughters Chilli and Indii would make any person’s heart melt — they are just so cute.
Summing it up in an activated nutshell like that makes your life sound pretty damn sweet. Pardon the irony, but there have been a few recent incidents that haven’t gone down so well, including your reference about diet causing Autism. These comments come despite the fact that your resume does not include experience as a neurologist, which tells me you have no medical knowledge or experience about the causes of Autism.
And now something else has popped up to add to the list of bumps in your road.
It’s your new cookbook, co-authored with baby recipe blogger Charlotte Carr and Naturopath Helen Padarin, titled Bubba Yum Yum: The paleo Way for new mums, babies and toddlers.
Within it there is a DIY baby formula recipe promoting ingredients you would normally see in the I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! tucker trials, including chicken liver, ground bones, oils and probiotic supplements, (which incidentally are high in vitamin A and dangerous to babies in high doses).
Health experts from places such as the Public Health Association of Australia [pffft. what would they know?] have grave concerns with the recipe, forcing your publisher Pan Macmillan to suspend the book release indefinitely. All because of a few words highlighting its danger made by these health experts, such as “inadequate nutritional value”, “baby growth and development could be impaired”, “failure to thrive” and “a baby may die”.
A. BABY. MAY. DIE.
These claims are not because they are haters of you and your controversial paleo ways Mr Pete Evans, but because babies could have died if they were subjected to being fed your DIY baby formula by their unsuspecting “new parents” taking your poorly researched advice.
You set out to make money from a book promoting recipes for babies and toddlers, when neither you nor your co-authors appear to have the medical background to confirm the nutritional value and safety of your recipes. And no, naturopathy is not medicine. It may have its benefits but from where I sit, it sure as hell isn’t curing cancer.
PART 2:
DeleteYou have really pissed me off.
Who am I to judge you? I am a parent to a beautiful 16 month old son. I am married to an amazing man. I am an office worker in the media industry. I am a writer. I exercise. I have awesome friends. I eat good food but not afraid to have a treat. I drink wine. I have a gorgeous dog.
I am the parent you were trying to sell your book to.
I am aware of the hidden crap food companies are putting into our foods. I am aware of the amount of sugar being pumped into us through foods that really shouldn’t have sugar in them. I avoid packaged foods as much as I possibly can without my husband freaking out on me that I am going to starve him. I am aware of the clever marketing food companies employ to make sure parents like me unknowingly fall victim and buy their products thinking they are healthy when they are not.
My horrible breastfeeding experiences are the same horrible breastfeeding experiences of many mothers out there. Some of these mothers are battling to breastfeed right now and may be thinking of giving up and thinking of breast milk replacement. Some parents are happy with commercial formula, that’s totally OK. Then there are some parents who are desperately looking for something, anything that is closer to breast milk. They may have taken to your DIY baby formula recipe if your book were published.
You, Charlotte and Helen were going to put the health and lives of their babies at risk.
A. BABY. MAY. DIE.
No doubt your book would have been marketed so well and looked so pretty that these desperate parents may have truly believed they were making the right decision, the best decision for their child by feeding them something so dangerous, unbeknown to them. I would like to think people could not be stupid enough to think ground bones and chicken liver would be superior to commercial formula but when a person is desperate, if they are made to believe it will solve their problems, they will try anything!
As a celebrity chef, as an admired TV personality, as a reputable author, as a person with a significant online following such as yourself, you absolutely have a duty of care to do your bloody research when making statements, voicing your opinions and publishing your recipes.
For the record Google is not research. Speaking with Universities, Hospitals and Scientific Research Facilities is research.
People trust you. People value your opinion. People listen to what you have to say.
Which means you can’t go around spruiking the benefits of a paleo inspired DIY baby formula which may have the unfortunate side effect of DEATH.
Stop being a jerk and go back to being a chef.
Sincerely, Kim.
here here
DeleteI can't work out which photo we're supposed to be looking at - can you be more specific? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLooks like its been removed. Did you screen shot it?
ReplyDeleteLooks like its gone already.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you might have been right though. Look at the attendees and Harry Gibson (apparent alis for Belle Gibson) went to he event. I have a screen shot.
ReplyDeletefinally her book is pulled - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2996121/Whole-Pantry-health-book-pulled-shelves-publishers-Penguin-fail-assurances-author-Belle-Gibson-brain-cancer-survival-story.html
ReplyDeleteoh no. it is still there. yes she said she was going to some kid event but that is her front and centre at the cannabis workshop. I think someone else put it up in another thread here too. I cant find it now.
ReplyDeleteAnother heartbreaking account of someone sucked in by Belle Gibson's lies : https://www.stayathomemum.com.au/guest-blogs/guests/alternative-therapy-vs-conventional-medicine-close/?utm_content=buffer75838&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
ReplyDeleteHi Violet, long time reader.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the work you're doing regarding this issue.
This woman - http://tamarastjohn.com/ - appears to be another charlatan in the same 'I healed myself of cancer' camp. Apparently her book was a #1 seller on Amazon in 2013. She has an extremely distasteful disclaimer at the bottom of her website considering the content of her posts regarding cancer.
Keep up the great work regarding Ms Gibson.
I would love to see an exploration of her cancer claims. She states explicitly that she has had no treatment whatsoever, and has been on her "death bed" in recent years. She was *cured* through a mix of almost every form of quackery you can imagine.
DeleteI wrote to Belinda Davidson (school of the modern mystic) and suggested she re-think the use of the word 'healing' in her work.
ReplyDeleteNo reply as of yet.
Gee.
Good luck!
DeleteAnonymous...I wonder who the hell you think you are. Starting a lynching on a family who NOT deserve this. Why don't you put your name to your comment, its people like you that hurt others, that cause illness, that bring destruction when you have no right. I will tell you straight you miserable piece of shit, I am family of the Schwatrz's and I CAN CONFIRM this little is ill. Expose your name I will have you in court.
ReplyDeleteI have asked the people who visit here to no longer talk about Joshua, so it will no longer be an issue, and I have deleted all comments discussing him. If you can see anymore that you think should be deleted, please let me know. No one is "lynching" anyone's family. I think right now everyone is simply feeling upset about this fraud and unfortunately Joshua's case was in the middle of it.
DeleteI do not want discussion here of children, or any person who was not a public figure before March 8, 2015.
Glad to see your morality gene is strong, Violet! I've been following this for days and I applaud you for your dignified and calm coverage. Unlike the sh!tshow that the BG Uncovered FB page has become.
Deletehave to agree with julianne there is another lot posted on the what-will-become-of-belles-apple-watch thread. this was not about other people. keep it the the fraud of B.G. no one else.
ReplyDeleteHas The Whole Pantry FB page been removed?
ReplyDeleteSeems to have disappeared...
DeleteYes The FB page gonr. Instagram posts all gone. Twitter latest posts gone. Website updated with all links to App and Book gone. On Apps Store the Whole Pantry app is not there. At least I am unable to find it.
DeleteThe Facebook page AND the AppStore whole pantry app have GONE!
ReplyDeleteThere is a strange new whole pantry facebook page with. Description in Thai and pictures of western food...
The Twitter account has less Tweets. Latest Tweets gone. And Cancer is cured too. So there is no need for a Belle Gibson. Time for law enforcement to prosecute this women for the scam. It is time all proceeds from the scam are confiscated.
DeleteViolet it appears that Belle has conjured up a lot of things, to me thats heartbreaking not only for her because if this is the case, she is sick young woman, but physically, mentally. In my Families case, they have been manipulated to a degree that I have never seen before, but know this...My family have not received one cent from that environment and unlike all of the post here, WE HAVE PROOF. Ian putting all of you on notice here..........I will be monitoring this page and I should one negative about my family , they copied and kept as evidence. This behaviour that you are showing on this page must stop. None of us have the right to start a head hunt on any person no matter what they have done...All best it wrong and in my case I am horrified to think that Belle Gibson is been a big scam, and as I cancer survivor myself, i just cannot even conceive of what a person must think through their minds to make money off the misery of others. I am asking you all to think about what you are doing and how you are behaving, because life is a funny ting and incredibly unpredictable, what we do others make no mistake it will come to your door. Violet is you wish to speak with me, here is my email sweet.grass@icloud.com. I am up front 55 year old woman and i do not hide.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of this blog is to prevent people suffering from cancer from being exploited by charlatans and frauds. I hope you understand that. I stopped the discussion of Joshua as soon as I saw it and you expressed your displeasure, and I explained why I thought that people were curious about that case - they were wondering if it was not one more of Belle's frauds, which, in light of recent revelations, was not an unreasonable inquest. Nothing here will be a discussion about anything having to do with you or your family. This blog was never intended for that purpose and I immediately complied with your request. If you wish to stay here and monitor it, you may, but no one has written a thing about your family since I asked them not to, and out of well over a thousand total comments, I deleted approximately five. Again, you are free to stay here and monitor the comments, but I feel quite confident that the thing you found unfair will no longer be a topic of conversation here.
DeleteI am really glad that people are demanding the truth from those who profit off the suffering of cancer patients. I think that what we are doing here is fine. It was in part this blog that exposed Belle Gibson for what she is. I am very proud of being part of something that might potentially save a current or future cancer sufferer's life.
Hi Juliann,
DeleteSorry to see that what has been on this blog has upset you so much - I mean that with sincerity.
For a lot of other people, however, it has been very therapeutic to be able to discuss and piece together what has clearly been a great deception. No one has threatened your family (I believe) and while the contents of this blog might have made you uncomfortable, we are not doing anything wrong.I, for one, am very grateful for Violets persistence on this matter. What Belle has done has caused a lot more than offence and heart ache, and as I said, I am sorry you feel that way, but peoples well being is at stake and that takes precedent over hurt feelings.
what will become of belles apple watch thread has more posts about the little boy which also should be deleted.
DeleteThank you Violet for starting this blog and for the sentiments behind it which you explained above. As a previous cancer patient (treated for breast cancer) I really appreciate what you are doing, shining the light of truth on misleading cancer testimonials.
DeleteWhilst having chemo I spent a lot of time resting & reading blogs. Also looking for healthy food advice to help recover. I'm relieved I found skeptical blogs as, after reading some wellness type blogs,
I was beginning to blame myself for my cancer, for not being positive enough or was it down to that half bottle of wine I once had?
There is much pressure put upon cancer patients by some well meaning friends & family advising to "stay positive" every five flaming minutes. Please allow the poor person with the life threatening disease to feel what they want to feel without being pressured into being "positive". Being positive may make it easier for you but it makes no difference to survival. I met plenty of grouchy patients who are still alive and patients who were very positive who are no longer here. Don't get me started on the unsolicited dietary advice, always some distant aquaintance curing themselves with a weird diet (oh really?).
Misleading cancer stories perpetuate so many myths about cancer that causes untold damage to cancer patients. I really hope some good comes out of all this, that journalists will not take cancer cure stories at face value in the future and that people begin to properly understand what cancer is and how it is treated.
I really appreciate you stopping by and sharing your thoughts here. I plan on writing a post on this whole nonsense of being positive and taking responsibility for your health, or other sentiments "wellness" people put out there that make it seem like sickness is the cancer sufferer's fault. Of course no one with cancer is particularly positive about life. That's absurd!
DeleteI saw my aunt at the gym today and we were talking about this a bit (we totally worked out too okay!). Anyway, she told me that her grandparents, who were essentially backwards, holy-roller religious folk from South Texas really and truly believed that if you were sick it was because you had sinned. Now I know that the Belle Gibsons and Jessica Ainscoughs of this world do not consider themselves to be anything like my less illustrious ancestors, but isn't it really the exact same thing, just repackaged for the modern person?
After my aunt and I talked about this for a bit, she thought about it for a moment and said, "You know, at least when illness was tied to sinning, there was something there implying that you had a bit of naughty fun first before you got sick. This new stuff doesn't even give you that!"
She has spoken to Daily Mail apparently...
ReplyDeleteI have not seen anywhere her son's daycare address was posted. And in typical liar fashion, she blames her accusers for harming her and refuses to address the allegations directly.
ReplyDeleteNor have I. I don't think anyone knew he was in daycare!
DeleteYes as usual journos didn't ask her for further info to clarify her crap. Great.
DeleteWell, it was the Daily Mail. I don't know if they qualify as "journos." ;)
Deletehttp://www.cosmopolitan.com.au/health-lifestyle/lifestyle/2015/3/an-honest-account-of-our-experience-with-belle-gibson/#_
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteDo you have a Twitter handle or another way I can contact you? I am a Journalist wanting to make contact.
Thanks.
Violet is contactable via violetrealitybased@gmail.com
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