Do you remember Belle Gibson? The girl who lied about curing her own cancer through natural therapies and then wrote a book, developed an app, sold them and made loads of money?
If you live outside of Australia here is a little run down- young mother (Belle Gibson) is given terrible news; she has inoperable brain cancer and months to live. She opts out of chemo and radiation, turning to alternative therapies to battle her illness. Oh my god it works and she announces it to the world encouraging others to do the same. She gathers hundreds of thousands of followers on social media and next thing you know here is our new poster girl for natural cancer cures and a new business is launched, ‘The Whole Pantry’, with a website, app and book deal. Amazing? No, because it’s a big fat lie, she never had cancer, and therefore she never cured it either.
She brought a lot of attention to ‘natural cancer cures’ and I love what she did.
Not the fraud or lying, or the deception. I’m glad for the spotlight that she held on the ‘natural cancer curing’ juggernaut that sees the same people criticising conventional treatment benefiting financially from the alternative therapies they are trying to peddle.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for healthy living, clean diets and super foods. I believe it can have a significant impact on our health and aids in preventative health. Some of the stories out there about diets and natural products preventing and curing cancer are pretty amazing; it’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement.
What I am concerned about is the claims that people make about conventional treatments not working and preying on the vulnerabilities of desperate people, encouraging cancer patients to reject conventional treatment and cure their cancer with natural products, products that in turn make the seller a bag load of cash.
60 Minutes 'The Whole Hoax' with Belle Gibson (post continues after video):
It’s important to do your research, listen broadly and investigate where information is coming from because believe me there is a lot of misinformation out there pushing you towards an online checkout button asking for your credit card.
Belle Gibson if I see you in the street I would be one of the few people who would offer you a heartfelt thanks and I would probably give you a hug for the good work you have done highlighting the hypocrisy of the ‘natural cancer curing’ industry. There’s one good thing you can be proud of girl.
This post originally appeared on Write A Better Life. It has been republished here with full permission.
Top Comments
One of my best friends died while 'curing ' her breast cancer through natural remedies ....... if the likes of Belle Gibson cause more people to drink her cool-aid then her actions are even more revolting not less
How could you even consider hugging a woman who, through her fraudulent claims, may have essentially cost some people their lives? Nope, never, uh-uh.
I find the article seriously confusing. I'm still not sure why the author wants to hug Gibson.
Does she think natural cancer cures do exist (and presumably doctors don't want us to know) and she's glad Gibson made people start thinking about alternatives to actual medicine (ie: not medicine)? Or does she think the Gibson spotlight rightly outed all natural cures as bogus, and she's glad of that.