WEBVTT - It Seemed Like A Scam But Then She Died. Megan Bhari’s Story [re-release] 0:00:10.405 --> 0:00:15.005 You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast. Mama Maya acknowledges 0:00:15.045 --> 0:00:17.685 the traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast 0:00:17.765 --> 0:00:20.605 is recorded on. Hey, No Filter listeners, it's Miya here, 0:00:20.885 --> 0:00:23.605 and today we're revisiting one of my favorite episodes of 0:00:23.645 --> 0:00:27.125 No Filter from twenty twenty three, about a woman who 0:00:27.165 --> 0:00:30.845 claimed to be incredibly ill, got to meet the members 0:00:30.925 --> 0:00:35.365 of One Direction, and then the most incredible twist, just 0:00:35.445 --> 0:00:38.285 when everybody thought she was faking it and maybe she was. 0:00:38.965 --> 0:00:42.565 In this episode, journalist Jamie Bartlett joins me to explore 0:00:42.565 --> 0:00:46.085 the mystery. Was Megan actually ill and if not, what 0:00:46.365 --> 0:00:54.205 really happened and how was her mother involved? For Mamma, 0:00:54.605 --> 0:01:00.325 I'm Maya Friedman and you're listening to No Filter charity celebrity, 0:01:00.765 --> 0:01:03.845 a mystery, illness, One Direction and a sudden death. 0:01:04.205 --> 0:01:06.125 Was never meant to end like that. That was a 0:01:06.245 --> 0:01:09.325 part of the story, but that's what happened. 0:01:09.925 --> 0:01:12.605 The extraordinary story you're about to hear almost sounds made up. 0:01:13.445 --> 0:01:16.205 It begins with a British girl called Megan Bari, who 0:01:16.245 --> 0:01:19.485 was just thirteen when she developed a condition called idiopathic 0:01:19.845 --> 0:01:24.165 into cranial hypertension, which involves high pressure around the brain, 0:01:24.765 --> 0:01:27.365 and then a couple of years later, Meghan developed a 0:01:27.405 --> 0:01:30.325 brain tumor, and it was as a direct result of 0:01:30.365 --> 0:01:34.285 her experiences twenty four operations, lots of time in hospitals, 0:01:34.605 --> 0:01:38.925 and countless interactions with other sick kids that Megan decided 0:01:38.965 --> 0:01:42.245 in twenty twelve, when she was just seventeen, to set 0:01:42.325 --> 0:01:45.045 up a charity with her mum to help dreams come 0:01:45.085 --> 0:01:48.405 true for other kids who were battling chronic or terminal 0:01:48.445 --> 0:01:52.845 illnesses like her. They called it Believe in Magic. Now, 0:01:53.205 --> 0:01:54.565 you were very ill. 0:01:54.365 --> 0:01:56.645 When you decided to set up the charity, So can 0:01:56.685 --> 0:01:58.285 you tell us about why you wanted to do it. 0:01:58.405 --> 0:02:01.245 Yeah, well, I've had twenty four operations in the last 0:02:01.325 --> 0:02:04.005 few years. Wow, And I've been in and out of 0:02:04.005 --> 0:02:07.725 hospital and seeing so many other very poorly children, and 0:02:07.925 --> 0:02:09.965 I just sort of realized how much the other children 0:02:09.965 --> 0:02:13.125 are going through and just wanted to do something to 0:02:13.165 --> 0:02:15.805 sort of give them the magical experiences back and to 0:02:15.845 --> 0:02:17.125 be able to be children again. 0:02:17.805 --> 0:02:19.325 And it worked in a sort of a Make a 0:02:19.405 --> 0:02:23.085 Wish way, granting hundreds of sick kids wishes from lavish 0:02:23.085 --> 0:02:26.525 parties to sending families on holiday or letting them meet 0:02:26.565 --> 0:02:30.805 their celebrities. Superhero. Meghan's own dream was to connect with 0:02:30.845 --> 0:02:34.045 One Direction, the boy band sensation of the twenty Tents, 0:02:34.525 --> 0:02:37.725 and through her charity and her own personal story of suffering, 0:02:38.245 --> 0:02:40.605 she did just that to such an extent that One 0:02:40.685 --> 0:02:44.645 Direction began tweeting the support of Believe in Magic, attending 0:02:44.685 --> 0:02:48.485 the charities galas and wearing Believe in Magic wristbands when 0:02:48.485 --> 0:02:49.685 they performed on stage. 0:02:50.005 --> 0:02:50.925 You have the boys. 0:02:51.405 --> 0:02:54.245 They're wearing your wrist bands in forty countries, So now 0:02:54.285 --> 0:02:55.685 your wristbands are main. 0:02:55.645 --> 0:02:57.885 Many companies with kill that opportunity. 0:02:58.165 --> 0:02:59.965 I mean, that's actually ridiculous. 0:03:00.125 --> 0:03:03.325 Prime Minister David Cameron even gave Meghan an award for 0:03:03.365 --> 0:03:03.805 her work. 0:03:03.925 --> 0:03:07.325 Meg has shown such extraordinary courage to put aside her 0:03:07.445 --> 0:03:10.445 own illness and focus on grant the dreams of others. 0:03:10.845 --> 0:03:14.125 But when Meghan and Jean started fundraising online to pay 0:03:14.165 --> 0:03:16.565 for urgent treatment that they said Meghan needed to get 0:03:16.605 --> 0:03:19.885 in the US to save her life, some people started 0:03:19.885 --> 0:03:22.845 to get a bit suspicious. It was giving bell gibbs 0:03:22.845 --> 0:03:26.405 and vibes. Remember the Australian cookbook author who claimed she 0:03:26.485 --> 0:03:29.925 had a brain humor, except that she didn't. You may 0:03:29.965 --> 0:03:32.725 think you can guess what happened next, because there've been 0:03:32.925 --> 0:03:35.445 quite a lot of well known stories about people who 0:03:35.525 --> 0:03:38.485 claim to be sick in order to get attention or 0:03:38.525 --> 0:03:42.725 scam money. And indeed, internet sleuths did find proof that 0:03:42.765 --> 0:03:46.845 Meghan and her mother Jean were being deceptive, But just 0:03:46.885 --> 0:03:50.325 when it looked like a scam was unraveling, Meghan suddenly 0:03:50.365 --> 0:03:55.565 died and that's when things became really complicated. There was 0:03:55.565 --> 0:03:58.725 an inquestion to Meghan's death, and soon after journalist Jamie 0:03:58.765 --> 0:04:02.165 Bartler got involved. He spent months trying to unravel what 0:04:02.285 --> 0:04:04.965 dark things went on with the charity and its founders, 0:04:05.485 --> 0:04:10.565 and what he found out was bizarre. Jamie's been released 0:04:10.605 --> 0:04:14.645 in a gripping seven episode podcast, also called Believe in Magic. 0:04:15.445 --> 0:04:18.525 So was Megan ever really sick? And if she wasn't, 0:04:19.365 --> 0:04:25.685 then how did she die? I wanted to start with 0:04:26.045 --> 0:04:30.205 twenty twelve, BBC did a show about inspiring teenagers and 0:04:30.245 --> 0:04:33.405 one of them is seventeen year old Meghan Barrie. 0:04:33.805 --> 0:04:37.285 Now we have another inspirational young lady in the studio 0:04:37.365 --> 0:04:40.325 with us. She has these little bands for her charity, 0:04:40.605 --> 0:04:43.565 and indeed that Alix is now wearing that I've been 0:04:43.605 --> 0:04:46.125 wearing all day I wore one on stage. Hello Meg, 0:04:46.325 --> 0:04:46.725 how are you? 0:04:47.045 --> 0:04:47.245 Yeah? 0:04:47.325 --> 0:04:47.565 Good? 0:04:47.645 --> 0:04:49.245 Thank you had an amazing day. 0:04:50.005 --> 0:04:53.165 What was she being celebrated for, Meghan Bari. 0:04:53.445 --> 0:04:58.485 Yeah, this inspirational teenager. She had become quite an influential 0:04:58.565 --> 0:05:01.365 person within the cancer community. She had started up a 0:05:01.445 --> 0:05:04.365 charity called Believe in Magic, and the idea was that 0:05:04.605 --> 0:05:08.725 she's very poorly herself, but she'd sort of in spite 0:05:08.845 --> 0:05:11.965 of that, had started a charity to grant wishes to 0:05:12.045 --> 0:05:15.165 desperately ill children. There's other charities that do similar things, 0:05:15.205 --> 0:05:19.045 you know, trips to Disney, meeting celebrities, sort of in 0:05:19.085 --> 0:05:21.605 some cases, sort of dying wishes if you like. As 0:05:21.605 --> 0:05:23.445 she puts it, to bring a little bit of joy 0:05:23.485 --> 0:05:28.085 into people's lives. And because she had suffered herself so much, 0:05:28.725 --> 0:05:30.525 you know, it inspired a lot of people. It moved 0:05:30.565 --> 0:05:33.805 a lot of people. So the BBC had her on 0:05:33.845 --> 0:05:36.365 for their Teen Awards show that they did every year 0:05:36.405 --> 0:05:39.405 back then, and she'd become very popular with One Direction 0:05:39.485 --> 0:05:44.445 as well. One Direction started wearing her charity wristbands on stage. 0:05:44.805 --> 0:05:47.605 How do you persuade these people to get involved? 0:05:47.685 --> 0:05:50.645 I think we've been so lucky, I said the charity 0:05:50.725 --> 0:05:52.965 last year and it's run my me and my mum. 0:05:53.365 --> 0:05:56.405 But I think people really like that. Because I'm seventeen 0:05:56.445 --> 0:05:59.525 and because I've been poorly myself, it means they kind 0:05:59.525 --> 0:06:02.085 of get it more than if it's just I don't 0:06:02.085 --> 0:06:03.965 really know. I think they get the story behind it. 0:06:04.525 --> 0:06:07.125 A very very inspiring young teenager. 0:06:07.885 --> 0:06:11.485 How did she look back then? Because she claimed to 0:06:11.525 --> 0:06:14.325 have had twenty four operations in the last couple of years. 0:06:14.885 --> 0:06:17.765 She said she'd had a brain t tumor, and she 0:06:17.885 --> 0:06:21.205 talked about how her insight into what it was like 0:06:21.285 --> 0:06:23.645 to be in hospital and so ill made her want 0:06:23.685 --> 0:06:26.405 to help other kids. Did she look unwell? 0:06:26.805 --> 0:06:30.245 Based on what other people have told me who knew 0:06:30.285 --> 0:06:34.285 her well at the time, she didn't look well. She 0:06:34.445 --> 0:06:39.765 was slightly overweightd she definitely took lots of medication. A 0:06:39.805 --> 0:06:42.285 lot of people saw her taking a lot of medication. 0:06:42.565 --> 0:06:45.445 And the thing is about a lot of complex conditions. 0:06:45.445 --> 0:06:48.765 You can't always tell just by looking at someone how 0:06:48.845 --> 0:06:52.525 ill or how unwell they really are. So yes, if 0:06:52.565 --> 0:06:55.245 you've got a broken leg, it's kind of obvious, but 0:06:55.325 --> 0:06:58.445 when you're talking often about brain conditions, it's less obvious. 0:06:58.485 --> 0:07:01.685 It's not always a visible condition. So that's a tricky one, 0:07:01.685 --> 0:07:03.925 and that's sort of part of the story. I suppose 0:07:04.045 --> 0:07:07.005 in a way, how far you ever really know how 0:07:07.085 --> 0:07:09.925 unwell someone really is just by looking at them? You don't. 0:07:10.445 --> 0:07:10.925 You don't. 0:07:11.325 --> 0:07:13.965 The One Direction point that you made was really interesting. 0:07:14.085 --> 0:07:18.165 She was a big fan and they became really involved, 0:07:18.205 --> 0:07:23.885 like Harry Starles's mum climbed Mount Kilimanjaro raise money for 0:07:23.965 --> 0:07:27.125 Believe in Magic. How did that connection come about? 0:07:27.485 --> 0:07:30.245 I didn't really know that much about One Direction before 0:07:30.245 --> 0:07:33.765 I started this. I just you know, pop band. To me, 0:07:33.805 --> 0:07:37.045 they were just sort of X Factor contestants that did 0:07:37.085 --> 0:07:39.285 really well, a good bunch of lads, and they did 0:07:39.325 --> 0:07:41.925 a lot of work for charity, you know, and a 0:07:41.965 --> 0:07:44.645 lot of popular bands they do a lot of work 0:07:44.645 --> 0:07:47.125 for charity. They will do after gigs, they will often 0:07:47.205 --> 0:07:50.925 meet poorly children One Direction And again I didn't really 0:07:50.965 --> 0:07:54.405 know because I wasn't a directioner. But back in twenty eleven, 0:07:54.525 --> 0:07:57.925 twenty twelve, that sort of time, I mean, amongst teenage 0:07:58.085 --> 0:08:01.725 girls in the UK and around world, they were absolutely huge. 0:08:01.965 --> 0:08:04.165 I mean there was this sort of obsession about them. 0:08:04.245 --> 0:08:06.565 They were like the Beatles, Yeah, but it was like 0:08:06.605 --> 0:08:10.085 Beatlemania really was. Actually when we were making the program. 0:08:10.165 --> 0:08:12.725 We talked about it being kind of similar to Beatlemania, 0:08:12.845 --> 0:08:17.285 sort of screaming teens, you know, absolutely obsessed and genuinely 0:08:17.285 --> 0:08:19.805 feeling like they were in love with the band and 0:08:19.805 --> 0:08:21.805 that they were going to marry members of the band. 0:08:21.845 --> 0:08:24.525 And they turned up as well at this interesting point 0:08:24.565 --> 0:08:27.405 where social media was making them far more approachable. They 0:08:27.445 --> 0:08:29.885 seemed a lot more normal. They would share much of 0:08:29.925 --> 0:08:32.165 their life online, so he got behind the scenes in 0:08:32.165 --> 0:08:35.005 a way that he didn't with the Beatles. So Megan 0:08:35.165 --> 0:08:38.765 was one of thousands and thousands of young teens who 0:08:38.845 --> 0:08:42.765 just were obsessed with one direction, and she'd managed to 0:08:42.805 --> 0:08:46.885 meet the band backstage after one of their gigs in London. 0:08:47.485 --> 0:08:48.805 Was that because she was sick. 0:08:49.405 --> 0:08:51.325 Some of the details aren't exactly clear, but yeah, we 0:08:51.365 --> 0:08:53.765 think it was through one of the charities that would 0:08:53.765 --> 0:08:57.085 put these events on for poorly children. And at the 0:08:57.165 --> 0:09:02.645 time she had been diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension, which 0:09:02.685 --> 0:09:04.925 is a sort of without going into the medical details 0:09:04.925 --> 0:09:06.725 of it, a sort of build up of fluid on 0:09:06.765 --> 0:09:11.525 the brain which can be really painful. Doctor Steele don't 0:09:11.565 --> 0:09:14.525 fully understand it. So we think she got to meet 0:09:14.565 --> 0:09:18.605 the band after one of their gigs because she had 0:09:18.645 --> 0:09:24.045 been selected because of her idiopathic intracranial hypertension, and she 0:09:24.125 --> 0:09:26.725 was brilliant with celebrities. She was really really good at 0:09:26.725 --> 0:09:29.325 sort of charming celebrities and talking to them, and she 0:09:29.525 --> 0:09:32.525 managed to somehow get their attention and get them to 0:09:32.845 --> 0:09:35.485 support her charity too, which she decided to set up. 0:09:37.005 --> 0:09:39.405 Hi It's Lourie from one direction. We've been working with 0:09:39.405 --> 0:09:41.365 Believe in Magic Now for a few years and we 0:09:41.405 --> 0:09:44.525 think Meg and the team are absolutely incredible. So to 0:09:44.605 --> 0:09:46.125 want a chance to see us in London on the 0:09:46.125 --> 0:09:49.165 twenty sixth September, donate below Thank you. 0:09:49.925 --> 0:09:51.765 Who did she run the charity with Because she was 0:09:51.805 --> 0:09:56.125 a teenager and she'd been unwell, running a charity is 0:09:56.125 --> 0:09:58.005 a big deal. Who was helping her? 0:09:58.765 --> 0:10:02.725 That was her mother, Jane, So Jean and Meghan had 0:10:02.725 --> 0:10:07.885 an incredibly tight close relationship. Megan had been taken out 0:10:07.925 --> 0:10:10.725 of school when she was I think it was thirteen, 0:10:10.965 --> 0:10:13.525 so she was homeschooled for quite a long period of time. 0:10:14.165 --> 0:10:16.605 Jean had had children from a previous marriage that had 0:10:16.645 --> 0:10:19.045 all grown up and moved away, and they were more 0:10:19.125 --> 0:10:23.325 like best friends really than mother and daughter, and Gene 0:10:24.005 --> 0:10:25.885 as the adult, was the one that really set the 0:10:25.925 --> 0:10:27.965 admin and was one of the official directors of the 0:10:28.045 --> 0:10:30.725 charity until Megan was old enough to be that. But 0:10:30.805 --> 0:10:32.365 it was the two of them and they were called 0:10:32.405 --> 0:10:35.285 the fairy Godmothers and they would put on these events 0:10:35.325 --> 0:10:39.285 together and everyone who went would say, these two are 0:10:39.325 --> 0:10:42.685 just a whirlwind, a ball of energy. They do everything themselves. 0:10:42.765 --> 0:10:45.405 They run this entire charity. They put on events and 0:10:45.445 --> 0:10:49.005 trips to Disney and Hamley's toy store in London where 0:10:49.005 --> 0:10:51.725 they get children all morning to be able to enter 0:10:51.765 --> 0:10:54.365 the store before it opens and play with the toys, 0:10:54.405 --> 0:10:57.205 and all this stuffy It was just them too. They 0:10:57.245 --> 0:10:59.925 did all the admin, They did everything, all the fundraising. 0:11:01.325 --> 0:11:02.525 It was the genat Meg show. 0:11:02.645 --> 0:11:04.965 I Believe In Magic was started by model to Meg 0:11:05.125 --> 0:11:08.005 and when she was just sixteen. Actually she'd been very 0:11:08.045 --> 0:11:11.045 poorly herself for that four years then and was in 0:11:11.085 --> 0:11:14.605 and out of many hospitals in London, mostly Great Ormond Street, 0:11:15.045 --> 0:11:17.245 and Meg wanted to do something to make a difference 0:11:17.285 --> 0:11:20.725 to their lives so shen't believe in magic, which. 0:11:20.485 --> 0:11:24.125 Became They would work eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen hours a 0:11:24.205 --> 0:11:27.005 day just to put on these events four poorly children, 0:11:27.045 --> 0:11:29.725 and they really did, and they helped a lot of people. 0:11:29.765 --> 0:11:31.805 And I spoke to a lot of people who attended 0:11:31.925 --> 0:11:35.205 believe in Magic events who said, I'll never repay them 0:11:35.245 --> 0:11:37.085 what they did, They what they did for my child, 0:11:37.165 --> 0:11:39.125 the events they put on, how much they helped us, 0:11:39.165 --> 0:11:39.845 it was amazing. 0:11:40.725 --> 0:11:44.685 So the charity was real. I mean One Direction raffled 0:11:44.725 --> 0:11:48.525 off backstage passes and raised four hundred thousand pounds. Harry 0:11:48.565 --> 0:11:51.205 Style's mum climbed met Kilum and Jarrow. A lot of 0:11:51.205 --> 0:11:54.605 people donated. They did actually do things, because all the 0:11:54.645 --> 0:11:57.685 things you described cost a lot of money to execute. 0:11:58.005 --> 0:12:00.685 They really did. Yeah, there were all sorts of events 0:12:00.725 --> 0:12:03.365 they railed up on. They put on this huge fundraiser 0:12:03.445 --> 0:12:08.205 at the Natural History Museum in central London. This princes 0:12:08.245 --> 0:12:10.885 and princesses born all were a couple of the One 0:12:10.925 --> 0:12:14.805 Direction members turned up as well. They would have trips 0:12:14.845 --> 0:12:18.405 to Disney, trips to Kensington Palace, trips to Buckingham Palace. 0:12:19.005 --> 0:12:23.005 They would often send gifts to poorly children that were 0:12:23.125 --> 0:12:27.005 in hospital. They'd suddenly receive a package. And one person 0:12:27.085 --> 0:12:30.165 told me how her daughter was a big fan of 0:12:30.285 --> 0:12:34.285 the children's TV personality called mister Bumble, and Meghan had 0:12:34.325 --> 0:12:36.925 managed to persuade mister Bumble to write this sort of 0:12:37.245 --> 0:12:40.565 personalized note to her daughter to get well soon and 0:12:40.725 --> 0:12:44.445 keep fighting. And they weren't putting on events, they really 0:12:44.445 --> 0:12:47.045 were and they did a lot of events. Remember, Meghan 0:12:47.045 --> 0:12:50.125 won an award which Prime Minister David Cameron said of 0:12:50.285 --> 0:12:53.445 Meghan like fighting through her adversity to put these events 0:12:53.445 --> 0:12:56.045 on to help poorly children. She won the special Award. 0:12:56.405 --> 0:12:59.365 So they were a sort of highly respected part of 0:12:59.405 --> 0:13:02.365 the cancer community, with the child cancer community in particular. 0:13:03.325 --> 0:13:06.765 Yeah, that sounds like there were almost celebrities in that area, 0:13:06.925 --> 0:13:08.085 in that sector. 0:13:08.045 --> 0:13:08.805 To some extent. 0:13:08.925 --> 0:13:11.725 Yeah, And they did huge amounts of really good work. 0:13:12.245 --> 0:13:16.685 In twenty fifteen, Jane announced on Facebook I think, where 0:13:16.685 --> 0:13:20.165 she usually communicated with the followers and the supporters of 0:13:20.205 --> 0:13:23.965 the charity, that Meghan's condition had deteriorated and that she'd 0:13:23.965 --> 0:13:28.525 needs specialist treatment in the US to survive. And she 0:13:28.605 --> 0:13:30.965 said that they needed to raise one hundred and twenty 0:13:31.325 --> 0:13:33.845 pounds in two weeks, which is around a quarter of 0:13:33.845 --> 0:13:37.005 million dollars Australian, and she asked their fans to donate. 0:13:37.885 --> 0:13:42.565 Was that a change from what had been happening in 0:13:42.605 --> 0:13:45.725 the years before that in terms of asking people for 0:13:45.805 --> 0:13:49.365 money for the charity. Now they were asking it for themselves. 0:13:49.805 --> 0:13:54.045 Yeah, it was, and Meghan had done a small fundraiser 0:13:54.085 --> 0:13:56.525 for her own treatment a couple of years previous to that, 0:13:56.565 --> 0:13:59.845 but it was nowhere near that size, not that amount 0:13:59.845 --> 0:14:03.085 of money, And I think that was the big difference here, 0:14:03.405 --> 0:14:07.845 moved from we're raising money for the charity to put 0:14:07.845 --> 0:14:12.685 on these events to we are raising money for Meghan's treatment. 0:14:13.805 --> 0:14:17.605 Meghan has put on so much and helped so many 0:14:17.605 --> 0:14:21.165 other people. Now she needs your help in a return. 0:14:21.685 --> 0:14:26.205 She now has her condition has seriously deteriorated. We need 0:14:26.365 --> 0:14:29.725 urgent proton beam radiotherapy over in the US. Can't get 0:14:29.725 --> 0:14:31.965 it in the UK at the moment. Because of how 0:14:32.085 --> 0:14:34.765 much money they'd raised for the charity and how much 0:14:34.765 --> 0:14:38.605 work they've done, that target was reached within forty eight hours. 0:14:38.645 --> 0:14:41.685 They had raised all of that money, so Meghan was 0:14:41.685 --> 0:14:43.845 able to go to the US to go to Florida 0:14:43.925 --> 0:14:46.325 for treatment, and that was a bit of a difference. Yeah, 0:14:46.365 --> 0:14:49.965 But I think in the cancer community it's I suppose 0:14:50.005 --> 0:14:54.005 maybe not so uncommon that people suddenly do need urgent treatment, 0:14:54.085 --> 0:14:56.325 and if you're part of that world, it maybe wouldn't 0:14:56.365 --> 0:14:58.885 have seemed as strange that it had gone from the 0:14:58.965 --> 0:15:01.765 charity to Meghan, because those sorts of things do happen. 0:15:02.645 --> 0:15:06.965 This is when Joe Ashcroft comes into the story. You 0:15:07.045 --> 0:15:11.125 spoke to Joe why was she so interested in Megan 0:15:11.205 --> 0:15:12.365 and believe in Magic? 0:15:12.645 --> 0:15:16.485 At this point, Joe's son had gone through something very similar. 0:15:17.005 --> 0:15:21.485 Joe's son had been diagnosed with neuroblastoma a few years earlier, 0:15:21.485 --> 0:15:23.565 and she'd actually been to a Believe in Magic event. 0:15:24.565 --> 0:15:27.085 She had been forced to raise two hundred and fifty 0:15:27.125 --> 0:15:31.285 thousand pounds for her son's treatment in America, a similar 0:15:31.365 --> 0:15:35.125 sort of thing. So she really took a natural interest 0:15:35.125 --> 0:15:38.605 in anyone raising money for treatment in America because she'd 0:15:38.645 --> 0:15:40.565 been through it and she knew what it took and 0:15:40.605 --> 0:15:41.565 how hard it was. 0:15:41.645 --> 0:15:46.125 And as you say, that's quite common within this world 0:15:46.405 --> 0:15:49.285 where people can't afford to travel to get the treatment 0:15:49.285 --> 0:15:49.845 that they need. 0:15:49.925 --> 0:15:51.685 Well, that's it. And the other thing as well, is 0:15:51.725 --> 0:15:55.925 that you're faced with this horrible decision where they'll say 0:15:56.005 --> 0:15:59.285 we don't offer the treatment. There's some experimental stuff going 0:15:59.325 --> 0:16:01.845 on in America, but you're going to have to raise 0:16:01.885 --> 0:16:05.045 a quarter of a million pounds half a million dollars 0:16:05.605 --> 0:16:09.605 in a few weeks somehow, just to increase that chance 0:16:09.725 --> 0:16:12.925 that they would survive by five percent. But your whole 0:16:12.965 --> 0:16:15.125 life is put on hold, and you do everything. And 0:16:15.165 --> 0:16:18.725 she talks a lot about all she wants to do 0:16:18.765 --> 0:16:22.165 is stay at home and cry and sort of be 0:16:22.285 --> 0:16:24.765 with her son. But instead she's got to go out 0:16:24.765 --> 0:16:28.165 there and do marathons and raffles and drag her poor 0:16:28.205 --> 0:16:31.485 son around from event to event, trying to tug on 0:16:31.565 --> 0:16:33.845 people's heart strings. And she said it was awful because 0:16:33.885 --> 0:16:36.205 she wants privacy, and she said she'll do anything to 0:16:36.285 --> 0:16:39.685 raise the money. So she's dragging her son around from 0:16:39.725 --> 0:16:42.805 event to event. She said, straight off the chemotherapy, just 0:16:42.845 --> 0:16:44.165 to try to get more money. 0:16:44.605 --> 0:16:45.325 And she did it. 0:16:45.605 --> 0:16:47.245 She did it, and she raised the money and the 0:16:47.325 --> 0:16:51.085 treatment worked. So it's incredible. I mean, just so much 0:16:52.325 --> 0:16:55.485 admiration for her. And I've got two small children myself, 0:16:55.525 --> 0:16:58.445 and well, you know, just even thinking of it's a 0:16:58.445 --> 0:17:00.565 really difficult thing to work on, this whole project, to 0:17:00.605 --> 0:17:04.525 be honest, because of that, you're dealing with childhood, the illness. 0:17:04.525 --> 0:17:05.165 It's awful. 0:17:05.965 --> 0:17:09.685 Given that she raised twice as much money as Meghan 0:17:09.765 --> 0:17:13.965 and Jane had to travel to the US. What raised 0:17:13.965 --> 0:17:16.405 her suspicions about what they were doing. 0:17:16.845 --> 0:17:20.405 She says, the lack of detail. It was very vague. 0:17:20.925 --> 0:17:24.325 The fundraisers were vague, They were a bit unclear. They 0:17:24.365 --> 0:17:28.885 didn't give specifics. The hospitals weren't mentioned, the doctors weren't mentioned. 0:17:29.245 --> 0:17:32.005 To me, it just all sounded very very strange. And 0:17:32.125 --> 0:17:35.445 as I'm reading, I'm trying to see where she's been treated, 0:17:35.485 --> 0:17:38.085 who are doctor raised, where the hospital is, and there 0:17:38.165 --> 0:17:39.485 was no information. 0:17:39.605 --> 0:17:42.165 And so she started, I'd just like to know a 0:17:42.205 --> 0:17:44.885 bit more about this. So she'd start emailing saying, what 0:17:45.005 --> 0:17:47.525 hospital are you actually going to? What doctor is it? 0:17:47.565 --> 0:17:49.165 Could I get in touch with I'd like to know 0:17:49.205 --> 0:17:51.885 more of you got any scans? So can I see 0:17:52.245 --> 0:17:54.885 a bit more on the specifics of what exactly this 0:17:54.965 --> 0:17:58.125 money's being spent on, because she says she was asked 0:17:58.165 --> 0:18:01.445 that often and she could reel off every specific treatment 0:18:01.645 --> 0:18:04.445 at what hotel and what doctor and here's the letter. 0:18:04.685 --> 0:18:07.805 Because she said, these people are giving me money, I 0:18:07.845 --> 0:18:10.725 will answer any question they have. I'll give them everything 0:18:10.765 --> 0:18:14.045 they want, and she felt like she wasn't getting those answers, 0:18:14.085 --> 0:18:16.125 and so she thought, something just seems a bit off 0:18:16.165 --> 0:18:19.965 about this. It just seems a bit slightly suspicious. And 0:18:20.205 --> 0:18:22.565 the more she dug, the more she asked, the less 0:18:22.845 --> 0:18:24.605 she seemed to understand about it. 0:18:25.365 --> 0:18:30.325 Hi, I'd love to send Meghan something, just like she 0:18:30.525 --> 0:18:35.005 sends all the poorly children. Which hospitals do I send 0:18:35.005 --> 0:18:39.445 it to? To which I got reply, thanks so much. 0:18:39.485 --> 0:18:42.645 But Meghan's at three different hospitals at the moment, so 0:18:42.685 --> 0:18:43.925 it's very, very difficult. 0:18:44.125 --> 0:18:46.645 And then she found that Meghan and Gene had done 0:18:46.645 --> 0:18:51.925 another fundraiser for Meghan a couple of years prior, and 0:18:51.965 --> 0:18:53.845 that was also a bit odd. It mentioned going to 0:18:53.925 --> 0:18:57.005 Disney World. It said, we're going to go to America 0:18:57.005 --> 0:19:00.005 to help Megan get better, and while we're there, we're 0:19:00.045 --> 0:19:02.285 also going to go to Disney. Can you help donate? 0:19:02.325 --> 0:19:05.405 And she thought, given what I've been through, I wouldn't 0:19:05.405 --> 0:19:09.125 spend a penny on Disney. Everything is going to much 0:19:09.165 --> 0:19:11.605 of treatment. Why are you raising money if you've got 0:19:11.725 --> 0:19:14.725 enough to go to Disney as well? And so she 0:19:14.845 --> 0:19:18.165 just thought. Her big concern was she'd heard stories about 0:19:18.205 --> 0:19:21.885 people within the cancer community sort of faking illnesses and 0:19:22.005 --> 0:19:24.285 pretending to have things they didn't to raise money, and 0:19:24.325 --> 0:19:25.765 she just thought, I'm going to get to the bottom 0:19:25.765 --> 0:19:28.725 of this. I think something's up. I don't want anyone 0:19:28.725 --> 0:19:30.125 in this community being ripped off. 0:19:30.885 --> 0:19:35.485 At that time, Jeane was in the US and she 0:19:35.645 --> 0:19:40.285 was posting increasingly alarming and really detailed updates. What Joe 0:19:40.285 --> 0:19:43.045 had said that there was not much detail around the 0:19:43.045 --> 0:19:47.485 hospital when you described the updates she was posting. There 0:19:47.525 --> 0:19:50.965 was a lot of very specific medical language and medical 0:19:51.085 --> 0:19:54.165 terms and about this procedure and all these different symptoms 0:19:54.205 --> 0:19:59.405 and escalating complications that Meg had. Where were they actually 0:19:59.445 --> 0:20:01.205 while all of this was happening, And how did the 0:20:01.245 --> 0:20:05.085 sleuths find out? The Sluths being the group of cancer 0:20:05.165 --> 0:20:07.765 parents that Joe enlisted to help her find out what 0:20:07.845 --> 0:20:08.325 was going on. 0:20:08.805 --> 0:20:13.125 Yeah, this story is just so on so many levels. 0:20:13.165 --> 0:20:16.125 It's just surprised me at every turn what actually happens 0:20:16.165 --> 0:20:19.965 here with this. The basics of it is that Joe 0:20:20.045 --> 0:20:23.085 and a couple of other people who had also been 0:20:23.125 --> 0:20:26.085 through the same thing, she had children with neuroblastoma, raising 0:20:26.085 --> 0:20:28.325 money for treatment in America. So they were really tight 0:20:28.365 --> 0:20:32.845 in this community getting more and more suspicious. The language 0:20:32.965 --> 0:20:37.765 when Gene was posting from America about Megan's health deteriorating, 0:20:37.845 --> 0:20:40.925 and it just seemed often far too exaggerated, you know, 0:20:41.005 --> 0:20:44.245 like where people would have two or three infections, Meghan 0:20:44.285 --> 0:20:48.125 has twenty. Stuff that just seemed a little bit suspicious, 0:20:48.165 --> 0:20:50.765 a little bit not quite believable, a little bit exaggerated, 0:20:50.925 --> 0:20:54.405 if I can say that. So she starts thinking, well, 0:20:54.405 --> 0:20:55.885 how are we going to get to the bottom of this, Like, 0:20:55.885 --> 0:20:57.485 how are we going to figure out what's really going on? 0:20:57.525 --> 0:21:00.805 Because we're not convinced that Meghan is as ill as 0:21:00.805 --> 0:21:03.845 she claims to be, and we're not convinced she's getting 0:21:03.885 --> 0:21:07.765 this treatment in America. So what they decide to do 0:21:07.965 --> 0:21:10.925 send an email to Gene the little tracker code in 0:21:10.965 --> 0:21:13.685 it which gives you the location of where the email's 0:21:13.725 --> 0:21:18.005 being opened from, and they discover when Gene replies that 0:21:18.125 --> 0:21:21.165 actually it was opened in a Disney resort, not in 0:21:21.245 --> 0:21:23.525 a hospital, not next to a hospital, but in the 0:21:23.605 --> 0:21:29.165 Kadani Disney resort. We were able to access some receipts 0:21:29.205 --> 0:21:32.485