A little girl is seriously ill after allegedly being poisoned with chemotherapy drugs administered by her mother. The 4-year-old is battling a lung infection and ‘coded’ in hospital this week. Gold Coast police have accused her mother of purchasing the anti-cancer medication on the internet and administering them to her daughter over a 10 month period from June 30, 2012 to April 11, 2013.
He daughter is only four but has already spent more time in hospital than most adults. For months doctors had been trying to find the cause of her illness while she underwent surgery, endless tests and was being prepared for a bone marrow transplant.
It's since been revealed the mum had previously claimed she herself suffered from colon cancer, anorexia and cluster headaches.
The mum set up a Facebook page chronicaling her daughter's illness, gaining 7000 followers. Her YouTube account responds to videos of people suffering from cluster headache attacks with comments claiming she suffers from them too. Five years ago she responded to a video relating to the anorexia battle of former Full House star Mary-Kate Olsen, writing, "Hey how are you?? i know how you feel!!! i am a diagnosed purging anorexic…it sucks big time!!"
Her mother had been sharing her daughter's journey with emotional posts.
A selection of messages posted by the mother
The woman wrote that her daughter first began showing symptoms in February last year when bruises appeared on her arms, legs, back and other "uncommon places". She said she also noticed bleeding from the gums and a meningitis-like rash. The mother wrote, “The doctors started their standard procedure for unexplained bruising and did a blood test before they questioned me for abuse.”
Doctors initially told the mother the girl could have an auto-immune disease before ruling out leukaemia. But three weeks later the bruising returned and the girl started bleeding from the nose and gums. She's since lost all of her hair, has blood in her urine and has a nasogastric tube because of rapid weight loss.
Severe aplastic anaemia was diagnosed in February this year and blood transfusions began. She's since become seriously ill and it's not known if she will pull through.
Police have charged the 22-year-old mother with grievous bodily harm. In court yesterday the young mother shook her head as she was led into the dock of Brisbane Magistrate’s Court. She hasn’t applied for bail.
The girl’s grandmother has vowed to continue updating the Facebook page set up by the mother, saying she hopes to tell the page’s 7000 followers of her recovery.
Munchausen by proxy syndrome (MBPS) is a relatively rare form of child abuse where an illness is either fabricated, exaggerated or caused by a primary caregiver – most commonly the mother- in order to draw attention to herself. It is a mental illness that requires treatment.
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