Her illness fooled celebs. The truth may be even darker

In 2020, a high-profile children's foundation was closed down. Just 2 years earlier, its young laminitis had died successful mysterious circumstances, leaving everyone progressive hopeless for answers. Only present is the information becoming wide - a communicative of aesculapian deception and personage obsession, exposed by a radical of acrophobic parents determined to support the crab assemblage from imposters.

On 10 August 2015, crowds of fans cheered and waved arsenic 2 members of popular set One Direction posed for photos extracurricular a fundraising shot astatine London's Natural History Museum. But inside, the existent stars were a radical of precise sick children - dressed up successful gowns and suits, immoderate accompanied by their carers, others midway done chemotherapy.

For Megan and her parent Jean, this "Cinderella Ball" was different accidental to rise wealth for their fast-growing charity, Believe successful Magic. Over the past 2 years they'd granted hundreds of wishes to seriously-ill children, including parties and trips to Disneyland.

The guests besides knew that Megan - who was conscionable 20 - had organised the shot portion precise publically battling a encephalon tumour of her own. It's an "incredible privilege" to enactment with Believe successful Magic, One Direction's Louis Tomlinson told attendees. But down the shot gowns and themed masks determination was a concealed involving 1 of the aesculapian profession's astir mysterious syndromes.

Believe successful Magic was inspired by Megan's ain conflict with illness. After her parents separated erstwhile she was precise young, Megan lived with her parent Jean, sharing a reasonably mean suburban life. But aged 13, Megan was diagnosed with Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension - a build-up of unit connected the brain.

A mates of years later, Jean told friends Megan had besides been diagnosed with a encephalon tumour. The acquisition inspired Megan, past 16, to commencement Believe successful Magic, to bring immoderate joyousness to desperately unwell children.

Despite Jean's regular online posts astir Megan's regular cocktail of drugs and predominant infirmary visits, the brace worked tirelessly for their charity. Megan, Jean, and their foundation became celebrated for their glitzy parties and enactment of One Direction.

"It was retired of this world," said Lucy Petagine, whose girl Luna attended respective events. "Every azygous kid felt similar they were truthful important and they weren't poorly."

In 2015, Megan was fixed an grant by then-UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who praised her "extraordinary courage".

At the tallness of Believe successful Magic's success, however, Jean announced Megan's encephalon tumour had worsened, and she needed to rise £120,000 for exigency life-saving attraction successful the US. Megan's supporters rushed to assistance and they reached the people successful little than 48 hours.

But 1 radical of acrophobic parents successful the kid crab assemblage didn't deliberation Megan was arsenic sick arsenic she claimed.

When Jo Ashcroft archetypal saw Megan's JustGiving entreaty connected Facebook successful aboriginal 2015, it brought backmost achy memories. After her lad was diagnosed with neuroblastoma - a crab of the tense strategy - Jo had raised £250,000 for palmy cutting-edge attraction successful the US.

Something astir Megan's entreaty didn't beryllium close with Jo. It didn't notation immoderate circumstantial doc oregon hospital. "I was a spot suspicious," she recalls. "I conscionable wanted to marque definite the wealth was going to the close place."

When Jo spoke to 3 friends whose children had besides been diagnosed with neuroblastoma, they agreed it was unusual. But they advised caution - wrongly accusing idiosyncratic of lying astir a encephalon tumour was unthinkable.

Gentle questions to Jean and different supporters went unanswered, truthful Jo went backmost to moving the household concern and looking aft her 3 children. Then, a twelvemonth later, Jo saw Megan and Jean were fundraising again - Jean said Megan was earnestly unwell successful infirmary successful America, and needed much money.

Jo and the different acrophobic parents vowed that this time, they'd uncover the truth. "It became all-consuming," she says. "I don't privation radical being ripped off, particularly not successful the crab community."

She adopted a pseudonym and adjacent pretended to beryllium a writer penning a communicative astir Megan - though again got nowhere. But 1 of the radical utilized their machine skills to enactment retired wherever Jean and Megan were opening their emails. It wasn't a hospital. It was a luxury edifice astatine Disney World successful Orlando, Florida.

A fewer weeks later, Megan and her parent Jean disembarked the Queen Mary II water liner astatine Southampton docks.

According to Jean, they were fortunate to beryllium backmost astatine all. Throughout the summer, she'd asked supporters to assistance her rise wealth - explaining Megan had "16 sources of infections" and terrible sepsis. At 1 point, she said, doctors gave Megan a 10% accidental of surviving the adjacent 7 days.

Thanks to their hard enactment though, she said, Megan's information had stabilised and the specialists successful Florida had allowed her to instrumentality home, equipped with 5 cases of aesculapian kit and a "huge oxygen concentrator".

But waiting astatine the cruise terminal arsenic they arrived was a backstage investigator. Jo was truthful determined to observe the truth, she paid £1,000 for him to instrumentality photos of the pair.

The photos showed Megan and Jean walking disconnected the vessel similar a mates of blessed tourists. There were nary oxygen tanks. According to the investigator, they were laughing and chatting arsenic they strolled consecutive past the porters, pushing luggage trollies piled precocious with cases.

We asked Jean via email wherefore she and Megan were staying astatine a Disney edifice astatine a clip they claimed Megan was earnestly sick successful a US hospital. She did not respond, though said, "it is precise casual to get sucked into societal media lies."

Armed with this caller evidence, the acrophobic parents contacted each authorization they could deliberation of, but it seemed similar cipher would intervene. So they decided to acceptable up a Facebook radical called: "The Truth About Meg And Jean" - wherever they shared their discoveries. But astir of Meg and Jean's supporters refused to judge it. Many had seen Megan's mediocre wellness first-hand - the intravenous tubes successful her limb and medication.

Jo was bombarded with hateful messages, but she was assured she'd done the close thing. Then, successful aboriginal 2018, Jo's telephone buzzed. Megan was dead.

Megan had died connected 28 March 2018 astatine the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery successful London.

"All I kept saying is, 'Darling, if you privation to go, delight spell and beryllium happy,'" wrote her parent connected Facebook.

Jo was stunned. "It wasn't expected to extremity similar this," she says.

For Megan's supporters, determination was small uncertainty who was to blame. "She was hounded to death," wrote 1 connected Facebook. But Jo remained convinced that Megan didn't person a encephalon tumour.

When the origin of someone's decease is unclear, a coroner investigates what has happened. In precocious 2018, an inquest into Megan's decease took place.

In aboriginal 2022, we were granted support to be the coroner's tribunal and perceive to a signaling of what had been heard astatine the inquest 4 years earlier.

For 2 hours, we listened to doctors explicate what they had seen. Megan had surely been unwell - implicit the years she had suffered from respective conditions, but each successful mentation manageable.

But the inquest dealt a shocking stroke to the claims Megan and Jean had made implicit the years. Jo was close - determination was nary notation of a tumour. According to the forensic pathologist, her encephalon had been "morphologically normal".

Several doctors nevertheless listed different worrying details. One had concerns astir the validity of Megan's aesculapian history. Another noted Megan's "opiate-seeking" behaviour. There was an effort to get morphine utilizing a forged prescription. Megan repeatedly missed aesculapian appointments and hopped from doc to doctor.

It wasn't a tumour that killed Megan, but an abnormality of the bushed of the bosom - acute cardiac arrhythmia - owed to fatty liver disease, apt related to Megan's precocious assemblage wide index.

Jean did not privation to beryllium interviewed, but told america via email that Megan did person a pituitary microadenoma - a benignant of non-cancerous encephalon tumour which, portion not typically life-threatening, tin beryllium harmful.

Megan had 4 older half-siblings, Jean's children from a erstwhile marriage. "I was 12 erstwhile Meg was born," says Megan's half-sister Kate, whose sanction we've changed. "I conscionable adored her."

According to Kate, Megan and Jean had a unusual narration with illness. If idiosyncratic they knew was unwell, sooner oregon aboriginal they'd perceive Megan had the same.

Kate remembers household dinners laced with danger. Jean piled tins precariously connected apical of bare nutrient cupboards which would rotation disconnected and deed the eating array straight beneath - truthful often that it was covered successful dents and divots.

"Jean wanted 1 of america to person an accident," believes Kate. "The full thrill of it. The attention."

For Megan's different half-sister Rachel - whose sanction we've besides changed - it's adjacent much personal. When she was nine, she was affected by a rash that caused kidney problems. Over the years, her information deteriorated, and she needed a transplant.

After Megan died, Rachel had vivid memories of being fed cups and cups of salty Bovril arsenic a kid - adjacent though precocious brackish contented is thing you should debar with kidney problems.

She present wonders: "Only I got Bovril. So, was it a deliberate thing?"

In 1951, a doc called Richard Asher published a ground-breaking insubstantial successful the aesculapian diary The Lancet. While moving a intelligence reflection unit, helium noticed a tiny but accordant fig of patients complaining of assorted symptoms, but connected person inspection were perfectly healthy.

He called it "Munchausen syndrome". It differs from hypochondria. Hypochondriacs exaggerate and panic, but truly bash deliberation they're ill. Munchausen patients cognize they aren't, but question attraction anyway.

Prof Marc Feldman is 1 of the world's astir renowned experts connected factitious disorders similar Munchausen syndrome. He besides studies Munchausen by proxy, present known successful the UK arsenic Fabricated oregon Induced Illness (FII), a uncommon signifier of kid maltreatment wherever a genitor oregon carer exaggerates oregon deliberately causes symptoms of unwellness successful the child. Because it involves deception, helium thinks the information is much wide than radical realise.

Prof Feldman ne'er met Megan oregon Jean, and hasn't seen Megan's aesculapian records. But based connected our elaborate relationship of what we've discovered, helium says Megan's lawsuit "screams" of FII.

Megan was 23 erstwhile she died, truthful legally an adult. But she was inactive a kid erstwhile the foundation was started. We volition ne'er cognize for definite who was driving this behaviour, oregon what Megan truly thought of it all.

Feldman explains the enactment betwixt kid and consenting big mightiness beryllium wide successful ineligible presumption - but not ever successful practice: "If you larn passim your full beingness that determination are definite things you're allowed to accidental and think… you go cooperative."

People fake unwellness - either successful themselves oregon others - for tons of reasons. Some bash it for money. Sometimes it's a privation to beryllium listened to oregon looked after. For parents, it tin beryllium a tendency to beryllium the heroic caregiver. Sometimes it's a mixture.

For Megan and Jean, 1 motive mightiness person been to tally a much-loved foundation - Megan being seen arsenic having a life-threatening encephalon tumour herself whitethorn person helped Believe successful Magic scope much children. At a Believe successful Magic lawsuit astatine the Tower of London, a erstwhile person recalls Jean observing: "The sicker Meg is, the much attraction we get, the much wealth we make."

More recently, Prof Feldman has spotted a caller inclination - radical faking conditions to conscionable celebrities. A superior condition, helium says, "allows idiosyncratic to look retired of the battalion of radical who are infatuated with this celebrity".

Megan's sister Kate thinks that the encephalon tumour and Believe successful Magic were partially driven by a tendency to hitch shoulders with celebrities. After repeatedly tweeting members of One Direction, the set became supporters of the charity, allowing Megan and Jean to conscionable the stars.

In 2017 - a twelvemonth earlier Megan died - the Charity Commission opened an probe into Believe successful Magic, pursuing respective tip-offs from Jo.

They recovered much than £100,000 was unaccounted for, and that foundation wealth had been transferred into Jean's idiosyncratic slope account. In 2020, the foundation was dissolved and Jean agreed not to beryllium a trustee oregon successful a elder absorption presumption successful immoderate foundation for 5 years.

Just a fewer months aft Believe successful Magic was unopen down, Jean disappeared from nationalist view. She moved to France for a while, earlier returning to the UK past year.

But that was not the extremity of the story. In November 2022, Kingston Council - wherever Megan had been surviving - published a "Safeguarding Adult Review" into what had happened. These are uncommon investigations into cases wherever radical whitethorn person been fto down by the authorities. As is standard, the names are each changed, but due to the fact that of however overmuch we've learned astir the case, we person nary uncertainty it's astir Megan.

It concluded: "Despite determination being nary ceremonial diagnosis of FII (Fabricated oregon Induced Illness) successful this case, the presumption and coroner's decision pb each progressive to deliberation it was apt to person been FII."

This reappraisal does not suggest that FII caused Megan's death. It cites the origin of decease fixed successful the coroner's inquest: cardiac arrhythmia, owed to fatty liver disease. But it nevertheless highlights however the FII successful Megan's lawsuit could person been missed.

FII is recognised arsenic thing that tin hap to children, due to the fact that parents be their aesculapian appointments, and are liable for giving consent for treatments. There's acold little knowing astir however it tin hap to susceptible adults too. Because Megan was an big for overmuch of this story, doctors and societal workers lacked the grooming and tools to place her concern arsenic a lawsuit of FII portion she was inactive alive.

We asked Jean to respond to the findings of the Kingston review. She did not straight code what was found, but did say: "I loved and cared for my daughter. Suggesting I mightiness person harmed her successful immoderate mode astatine each is perfectly sickening."

It's excessively precocious for Megan, but according to FII adept Dr Danya Glaser, this reappraisal could alteration however akin cases are understood and managed.

"The Kingston reappraisal is highly significant," she explained. "It brings to people's attraction the information that FII tin proceed into adulthood."

A fewer days aft the reappraisal was published, we visited Kate and Rachel to archer them astir it - adjacent Megan's sisters had nary thought it had taken place. Neither person spoken to their parent for respective years. When they asked her hard questions astir Megan and Believe successful Magic, Jean chopped them retired of her life, they say.

"It's a bully happening to have. It's each determination successful achromatic and white," says Rachel, speechmaking the report. "We thought it had each been forgotten." She thinks backmost to her kidney transplant and wonders what this study means for her too.

They some anticipation it mightiness assistance forestall thing akin happening again.

"Megan was a victim," says Kate. "She was groomed for this."