So I'm interested in these fakers, and have been for years, especially when it comes to cancer. The comparative victimhood seems to revolve around autoimmune disorders, but the scam and attention hogging often goes to people who fake cancer.
Tracy Dart faked breast cancer for over a decade. She became nationally known in cancer circles, starting Team Tracy to raise funds for Komen (those whores will take money from anybody). Team Tracy was all over the West Coast. She supposedly raised 400k for Komen, but many people gave her cash and checks made out to her alone, and there is supposedly much more that she stole. She didn't work for years, but partied a lot -so much that she died of cirrhosis of the liver in her early 40s. There were vids of her slurring at cancer events.
She faked her cancer three times, but never gave real details. She said she had a lumpectomy and oral chemo (nope, there is only one and it's not for early stage) ) She lost her hair but you don't lose hair on that drug. She said cancer kept coming back, the second time she and had another lumpectomy and radiation and "lost" her hair again. (Unless it's brain radiation, that doesn't cause hair loss). She shaved her head each time she faked cancer-people don't seem to know that most chemos don't cause hair loss. (if you are in the know about breast cancer treatment, her story is instantly suspicious but she fooled a lot of people who should have known). Then she got it a third time, and supposedly beat it again. No details about treatment, stages, histology, just baldness. And she was bald for a long time too, her shaver got a workout.
The entire Seattle community rallied behind her. She was on TV many times, went to meet Ellen DeGenerous (paid for by others) a local dealership gave her a car, and there were personal fundraisers that raised tens of thousands for medical bills. She was honored with dinners and awards. She was pretty much the poster girl for breast cancer and pink ribbons in Seattle.
It all came crashing down when her sister took her to chemo. IIRC, Tracy went in, her sister waited outside. Later her sister went in asking for her-and nobody had ever heard of her. Word got out that she'd never had cancer, and an investigation started about where the funds went, but she conveniently drank herself to death before they finished. It was determined that she had never had cancer and has stolen money but nobody to prosecute. She probably would have gone to jail.
If you search for Tracy Dart her tweets are still there, and various articles and things of interest. It just goes to show show people often don't use their heads. Anybody who has been though cancer treatment should have figured out she was slippery so it's interesting to me that those who'd had the disease supported her and didn't question her. Most took her at her word and were horrified at her lies. A lot of people said they would never donate to cancer charities again because of Tracy.
Worse is the story of Belle Gibson. Tracy sole valor and money but she did encourage people to get cancer treatment. Belle lied, pretending to have terminal brain cancer that was cured naturally, and started a wellness community, where she promoted woo treatments like enemas , diet and oxygen therapy. She actively encouraged cancer patients to not do chemo, calling it poison. She got a book deal with Penguin and had a lot of success with her blogs. She made a lot of money, which she'd raised to donate to charity. She did not and an investigation started.
It came crashing down and she admitted on the Australian version of 60 Minutes that she'd never had cancer. Who knows how many people did not get treatment because of her lies? Tracy took people's trust, Belle no doubt took people's lives. Orac on ScienceBlogs has written about her and others like her for those interested in cancer-related woo. (I've been following these nuts for years).
There are more...
