She Faked Cancer To Get a Boyfriend!? The Wild Case of Lucy Wieland

In 2018, an Australian woman decided to begin faking a late-stage ovarian cancer diagnosis to get attention. She went as far as shaving her head and losing weight to really sell the whole thing. Worst of all, she got her partner to put all of his savings into her “treatments” and accepted money from her giving community for a GoFundMe. This episode is sponsored by: Knix http://knix.com - promo code: TCKR Quince http://quince.com/tckr Cash App https://capl.onelink.me/vFut/4g1zpylb - Download Cash App Today: https://capl.onelink.me/vFut/4g1zpylb #CashAppPod. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. See terms and conditions at https://cash.app/legal/us/en-us/card-agreement. Cash App Green, overdraft coverage, borrow, cash back offers and promotions provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit http://cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures. OSEA http://oseamalibu.com/ - promo code: TCKR — Check out my foundation: Higher Hope Foundation: https://www.higherhope.org/ Watch my documentaries: 530 Days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjUWkmOjNLk Apartment 801: https://bit.ly/2RJ9XXr True Crime with Kendall Rae podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3rks84o Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jC66pr Shop my Merch! https://kendallrae.shop Check out my other podcasts: Mile Higher (True Crime) @milehigherpod YouTube: https://bit.ly/2ROzJcw Instagram: http://instagram.com/milehigherpod The Sesh (Current events, a little true crime, pop culture, and commentary) https://bit.ly/3Mtoz4X @the_seshpodcast Instagram: https://bit.ly/3a9t6Xr *Follow My Social!* @KendallRaeOnyt Instagram: http://instagram.com/kendallraeonyt Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kar4NK True Crime TikTok: https://bit.ly/3VDbc77 Personal TikTok: https://bit.ly/41hmRKg REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://zfrmz.com/yg9cuiWjUe2QY3hSC2V0Form for people directly related/close to the victim: https://zfrmz.com/HGu2hZso42aHxARt1i67 Join my discord to chat with other viewers about this video, it’s free! https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN C O N T A C T: For Business Inquiries - [email protected] mailto:[email protected] Send me mail: Kendall Rae 8547 E Arapahoe Rd Ste J #233 Greenwood Village, CO 80112

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:49Kendall Rae?

  Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so much for joining me today. And if you're new to the show, then welcome. I am so happy to have you here. I've got to say, doing my normal intro is getting harder and harder. I have really barely any lung space left. Check out this bump, you guys.

• 1:14Kendall Rae?

  Yeah, so I'm massive. And my baby is massive. He is in the 95th percentile, 99th percent for head. Love that for me. But anyway, guys, before we get into today's case, I wanted to let you know that this might be my last recording here for a while. Although I started recording episodes to go up while I am on maternity leave last February. So if all goes according to plan, there shouldn't be a week where I don't upload. All I'm gone, which is pretty cool. I don't know for sure if this will be my last episode. It's very possible by the time this goes up, I'll already have had my baby,

• 1:58Kendall Rae?

  or I will just be miserably waiting. So if you're curious or you want an update from me, I'll be posting updates probably on Instagram and TikTok, which is both Kendall Rae on YT, if you want to check in with me. But I don't know, I might be here still next week. I don't want to just sit around and be bored because I think it's going to make the time pass slower. But I just wanted to give you a heads up that all of a sudden, next time you see me, I could. I'll look a lot different and it might be a pre-recorded episode. I wanted to thank all of you guys for the wonderfully supportive comments throughout this pregnancy. It has meant the world to me. I don't, you know, take it lightly.

• 2:39Kendall Rae?

  It's not lost on me, I guess I should say, how lucky I am to have all of these people across the world that care about my wellbeing and have sent me supportive, kind messages throughout this pregnancy. It really means a lot. I know that's something the majority of people don't have, so I feel very, very grateful. Also, I wanted to tell you that when I do come back, so not during the pre-recorded episodes, but when I am back in real life, in real time, I'm going to be in a new studio. I currently record this show in my house. All of my other podcasts are recorded somewhere else. And now this show is going to be recorded somewhere else. I'm going to be recording

• 3:21Kendall Rae?

  all of my shows out of my house, which is good for me because I'm now going to have two kids in my house. It's already getting hard to record here because my three and a half year old's pretty loud. So you're going to see a new set when I come back. And also, this is the sad part. I know, my cat Lily, who has been a huge part of the show, Lily, look alive here, girl. She's not going to be here for recordings anymore because they're going to be outside the house. And Lily is like 13 or something. She was born in 2013 in May, so I don't know what the math is on that, but I think that means she's going to be turning 13. And I'm certainly not going to drag a cat who is 13 year old out of her house every day just to record with me as much as I want to because it's

• 4:03Kendall Rae?

  going to be very hard for me to record without her. She is like my emotional support animal in every part of my life. But it's just not kind to bring her out just so, you know, I have her to record with me. So it's gonna be, you know, possibly Lily's last episode as well. We've had some good times together here in this basement. That being said, you know, I do have 10 animals, so I'm sure there will not be an episode without some type of furry something in my set, you know, an end of an era as she shows me her butthole. Anyway, guys, moving on with today's case.

• 4:46Speaker 03

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 5:01Speaker 04

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 5:12Speaker 03

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 5:17Speaker 05

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 5:23Speaker 03

  So join us and hear their stories and more, because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.

• 5:43Speaker 06

  ChatGPT for teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down rather than giving teens the answer. Study mode helps teens work through problems and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.comPARENTS to learn more.

• 6:10Speaker 07

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• 7:14Kendall Rae?

  We are talking yet again about another person who faked having cancer. Now, these types of episodes really piss me off. They are difficult to do because I find myself getting so enraged during the prep for them that I often end up with my red chest rash that I get whenever I have a lot of emotion. But I do feel that these cases are so important to discuss. Mainly because I feel that people who are this low, this scummy, that they would fake cancer, deserve to be talked about and publicly humiliated as much as possible.

• 7:54Kendall Rae?

  Of all the fucked up things you could possibly lie about, having cancer, or having any type of illness, especially something terminal, is about the worst thing I think a human can lie about. The way they prey on other people's emotions throughout the process, even people they love, even their closest loved ones, which is what happens in this episode today, is just so horrifically remarkable. And today, we're talking about someone who faked stage five cancer. Now, if you're someone who has any personal experience, or just education around cancer in general, you know that stage five cancer is not a thing.

• 8:38Kendall Rae?

  Yet, this woman tried to pretend that's what she had going on. And specifically, this woman, Lucy is her name, I will explain more about her in a minute, she lied about having ovarian cancer, which makes her extra shitty because ovarian cancer, if you didn't know, is actually one of the deadliest types of cancer of the female reproductive system because it's often diagnosed in its late stages. And every year, it's estimated that 324,000 women across the globe are diagnosed with ovarian cancer. And the reason it's often diagnosed in the later stages is because the symptoms are

• 9:21Kendall Rae?

  often mistaken for something else, and women are told... You know, a variety of things and they don't actually know what's going on until sometimes it's too late or it's very, very far along. And so it kills thousands and thousands of women all across the world. And so many others, hundreds of thousands more are impacted. When you factor in, you know, the loved ones of those people and some of you probably are in this audience. And so I want to, you know, as I always do, give that warning that this episode is very triggering, could be, especially if you have firsthand experience with any type

• 10:02Kendall Rae?

  of cancer, but especially ovarian. And, you know, proceed with caution, take care of yourself because it's going to piss you off. In this episode, we're going to be talking about Lucy Wieland, who not only lied about having it, but she stole money from the very community who tried to help her beat it. Just absolute scum. So to understand how all of this came to be, how all of this really started, we need to look at who Lucy was before all of this. And what's crazy is from what I gathered, she seems to be a totally, or was a totally normal person before all of this. Lucy grew up in the Gladstone region of Queensland,

• 10:45Kendall Rae?

  Australia, where she spent her childhood enjoying the beaches on the northeastern coast. And she worked in the beauty industry. That was her biggest passion. Back in 2008, Lucy got a diploma of beauty therapy. And then for the next nine years, she managed different salons. And eventually she opened one of her own called Luminance Beauty, where she offered everything from waxing to skincare services. And then she also had another job working at Defence Bank, managing people's finances. And on the surface, everything appeared to be going well in her life. The only thing that was missing from it that she wanted was someone to share it all with. That was until December of 2017, when she started dating Brad Congerton. Now Brad was a soldier in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal

• 11:30Kendall Rae?

  Australian Regiment, and he's been described as a genuinely good guy. But because of his... Pretty high-stress job that was very demanding. And also his prior dating experiences, he was only really looking for casual dating. And so when he met Lucy, he made this abundantly clear to her. Brad's cousin Jamie, who actually plays a big role in this case, has said that Brad was, quote, "too nice of a guy to be a player." And as you'll see, that niceness was quickly taken advantage of. And Jamie was there to see it all unravel. Now, this is a little bit confusing, but back in 2017, before Brad and Lucy actually started dating, Jamie was going through a breakup of her own.

• 12:13Kendall Rae?

  And her mom suggested that she move in with Brad. They were only a few years apart from one another, so they'd always been pretty close. And Brad was totally fine with her moving in. He even joked about how it'd be nice to have someone to pay some of the rent. He owned a place in the city of Townsville, and that's where she moved in in August of 2017. Then in December of that year is when he and Lucy started casually dating. Now, according to his cousin Jamie, it wasn't that serious for Brad. Lucy felt differently, and Jamie got to witness that firsthand. As the next few weeks went on, the two girls became pretty close friends. And Jamie said that Lucy was clearly falling for Brad headfirst.

• 12:58Kendall Rae?

  The two of them would even hang out when Brad was away for work. And that's when Lucy confided in her about the abusive relationship that she said she just got out of. And she also said that Brad saved her from it. Now, in hindsight, I'll just go ahead and say it. Jamie doesn't think that this relationship was even real. But in the moment, you know, she wasn't going to accuse her of lying. She had no reason to think she was lying, actually. And it put her in a hard position because she knew that Brad didn't feel the same way about her and certainly didn't think that he saved her from any relationship. And she even told Lucy that, you know, "I don't think he feels as strongly about you as you do about him."

• 13:42Kendall Rae?

  But according to Jamie, it was like talking To a wall. It honestly seems like it was just a recipe for disaster from the beginning. That Lucy was determined for, you know, her relationship with Brad to evolve the way that she wanted, and he clearly didn't want that at all. And I think Lucy started to realize that. So what does she do? She decides to give herself cancer. So in March of 2018, Lucy went over to Jamie and Brad's house while he wasn't home. And Jamie remembers that she looked incredibly sad. And when she asked her what was wrong, Lucy told her about her diagnosis. And she said that she went to the doctor about some bleeding,

• 14:22Kendall Rae?

  some fatigue, and some stomach pains. And it turns out that she had stage four ovarian cancer. And she also mentioned that her chance of survival was slim. Now, like I said at the beginning of this episode, ovarian cancer is highly deadly. And that's because oftentimes, once it's found, it has already progressed into the advanced stages. And by then, the cancer has spread. And so I think for her to say that she has been diagnosed with stage four, that does sort of track with how often it's found in those later stages. So it sort of sounds like Lucy did her research there. She even gave Jamie this leaflet on ovarian

• 15:05Kendall Rae?

  cancer so that she could look into it for herself. And despite being a newer friend, Jamie was devastated by this news, of course. And as for Brad, he found out later that night, and he was crushed. Although I guess Lucy sort of gave him an out, telling him that he didn't have to stay with her as she battled this. And she would totally understand if it was too much for him and he just wanted to end things. However, that was, of course, all part of her manipulation. I personally believe that she knew that she could say something like this to him without even a chance of him actually leaving because she knew. Deep down that he was way too good of a guy to ever turn his back on anyone

• 15:48Kendall Rae?

  that is going through stage four cancer and he didn't. And not only did Brad say that he did want to stay with her, but he also invited her to officially move in with him. And that is what made their relationship finally official. And so it seemed like everything was going according to her plan. This is exactly how she wanted things to turn out. But of course, as we hear so often in cases like this, Lucy just had to escalate things. She had to get more attention, of course, and so she started a blog. It was called No Thanks, Hovarian Cancer. And that's where she documented everything.

• 16:29Kendall Rae?

  And from what I understand, it was a public journal of sorts where she would talk about her struggles and her fears and, you know, her overall journey. And for legitimate cancer patients, a blog can be highly therapeutic and sort of can keep loved ones updated without the constant burden of having to write out text messages to them. But of course, that wasn't the point of Lucy's blog. The point of her blog was to get sympathy from people and to manipulate those around her.

• 17:01Speaker 03

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 17:16Speaker 04

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 17:27Speaker 03

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 17:32Speaker 05

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 17:38Speaker 03

  So join us and hear their stories and more because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.

• 17:58Speaker 06

  ChatGPT for Teens is designed to help teens learn, think critically, and grow their skills. ChatGPT for Teens supports active learning by breaking concepts down. Rather than giving teens the answer, study mode helps teens work through problems, and interactive quizzes test their knowledge and provide immediate feedback. Safety protections are on by default, and parental controls offer families additional options, like setting study hours and quiet hours. Visit chatgpt.com/parents to learn more.

• 18:25Speaker 09

  Cash Flow Crunch onDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds, up to $200,000, right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 18:59Kendall Rae?

  Now, I wish so badly I could have found screenshots for you guys, but I'm so sorry, they do not exist on the internet, which is kind of crazy. I searched high and low for any screenshots from the blog, anything, and I couldn't find anything. I even used the Wayback Machine and other archiving sites, but nothing came up. But I did find other sources that quoted her, and so I wanted to read those for you. So this specifically is from an article from August of 2018 that Lucy was interviewed for, and in it she talks about her early diagnosis. It says, "At first, we were pretty hesitant to believe it. We were like, 'That is so dramatic, it's not going to be that bad.' As my health started to deteriorate and other things went wrong

• 19:43Kendall Rae?

  and other organs started to shut down, it became a bit more real." She also said that she initially thought she was sick because of the stress of working through Christmas with a new business. But come to find out, according to Lucy, it was actually stage four cancer. Here's another quote, "At the time, though, I didn't realize what ovarian cancer was, like most people." We didn't think it would be this aggressive this quickly. And as for how she was coping with it, Lucy said, "I feel like how I deal with it changes every day. At first, when there weren't a lot of treatment options available and the negativity of a lot of specialists that I've had, I was very much in the mindset that I just want to be as happy and as comfortable for as long as I can. As I let it sink in for a little bit more, I realized what that actually meant.

• 20:28Kendall Rae?

  I kind of realized that I haven't loved the people that I love for long enough, so I want to fight it." So from that, you can tell that she sort of had this, "I'm going to do whatever I can to stay alive. I am strong, I'm going to fight back" sort of mentality that's obviously very captivating to people, very inspiring. And of course, one of the ways that she was really able to sell the act was to change her outer appearance as much as she could to match what was happening to her. Now, we have seen this with, I think, pretty much all of the fake cancer cases that I've covered. She lost a significant amount of weight. She shaved her head to make it seem like she'd lost her hair in chemo. You know, we definitely have seen that.

• 21:12Kendall Rae?

  And according to Jamie and Brad, she acted very sick. Of course, they didn't know that she was acting at the time, but you know what I mean. She would spend days unable to move from the couch or her bed and was often throwing up and sleeping next to the toilet. And so it was easy for them to end up believing her because she was really acting all of this out. I mean, sleeping next to the toilet, that's pretty intense. And also to their credit, she made it look like she had a chemo port. Although, it sounds like on her blog, she might have been calling it a pick line. Now, a pick line is a peripherally inserted central catheter, and it's inserted into the arm, whereas a chemo port is usually inserted into the chest.

• 21:55Kendall Rae?

  Either way, she was making it seem like she was undergoing chemotherapy, which is what both of those things are used for. And I'm sure you're wondering, or if you've seen my other episodes on people who have faked cancer, maybe you've already guessed that this is how it goes down. But when it comes to getting chemo and getting... Away with not being caught, not actually getting the chemo. Brad says that Lucy just never let him go. She did allow him to drive her to her appointments, of course, so she could get the support and attention that way. But then she would tell him that she didn't want him to see her like that, so he wasn't allowed to actually go in.

• 22:34Kendall Rae?

  And oftentimes, her appointments would coincidentally be scheduled for when he was away at work. So she would just go alone. Jamie said that she would keep her chemo schedule on a chalkboard in their kitchen and that she would make a big effort on those days to help Lucy. Whether it was cooking or cleaning or buying her flowers. She wanted to feel like she was being supported. There was even one time where Lucy told her she wanted to go to the pub to drink, despite having to cut out alcohol. But she said that that was fine because she was going to, quote, "die anyway." So Jamie would go with her and spent the night trying to cheer her up. However, as her health appeared to significantly decline in the summer of 2018,

• 23:17Kendall Rae?

  Jamie decided to move out so that she could give Lucy and Brad their space. And it was around that time that Lucy shared she only had about six months to live. And things like this always just blow my mind. What is the end game? What is the plan for people who fake cancer and then give themselves such a short time to live? Like, what's the plan for when that time runs out? How do they plan on explaining that or acting that out? I mean, uh, God, I don't, I don't understand. It makes no sense. I mean, for as deep as their lies go and how much, well, I guess you can argue they don't put that much thought into it.

• 23:59Kendall Rae?

  But it always amazes me how these things are just not clearly sorted out in their minds yet. I will say, though, Lucy was committed to the bit. And shortly after Jamie moved out, she came back over to get the rest of her stuff. And Lucy was now using a walking stick because she said that she was too weak to walk on her own. I did manage to find a screenshot of that in an old Instagram. Instagram caption of hers that reads, "So it has been nine days of denial, but here's my newest and pink accessory, y'all. Exhaustion is becoming an issue for me and the pains that I used to push to the side and try my best to live with are becoming too much to ignore. So it's the walking stick to the rescue."

• 24:43Kendall Rae?

  Of course, this is definitely not an all the time thing, just for those really tricky days. Terminal illness brings some different and difficult moments with it. One of the hardest for me is the lack of independence. I don't have much of it anymore and I have gotten to the point where most days when walking anywhere other than around the house, I'm now not only super slow, but I have to have the support of someone's arm. Which although on the bright side, I could say I'm so blessed to have plenty of people who offer me help, really highlights how dependent I am becoming on others. That one's a hard pill for me to swallow. So as much as I hate the idea of a walking stick, I am thankful for the fact that it means I walk on my own two feet. Always remember, if you are placing one foot in front of the other, it's always a step

• 25:27Kendall Rae?

  in the right direction. And then in other posts, she talks about how she had to stop working and how sad she is over the possibility of never being able to have children. All things that are just so sick to say, knowing that you're making them all up. I mean, how do people like this even sleep at night? It's so sick. Which brings me to the next layer of Lucy's manipulation, the finance fraud. Now, I don't know exactly how she initially brought it up, but at some point Brad got financially invested in her recovery. I'd imagine that Lucy probably just, you know, manipulated him into believing that she couldn't afford to keep up with the treatments, that she needed the financial

• 26:12Kendall Rae?

  help, and seeing as he's a good guy, he wanted to help save her, even if that meant draining his own savings. And he unfortunately did drain his savings and not only that, he also took out two separate loans. One for $5,000 Australian for Lucy to harvest her eggs and then another $12,000 Australian. To pay for, quote, life-saving chemo. And of course, because things just couldn't go smoothly for her. Lucy said that when she got her eggs harvested, the procedure failed and it ended with her having to go into an emergency surgery. And god, poor Brad. I mean, he was doing everything he could to take care of her. He became her full-time caretaker dude.

• 26:55Kendall Rae?

  And Lucy even gave him a note from her doctor so that he could take a leave of absence from the army. So he was putting his career aside for her and also his pride aside for her because he ended up turning to their community for help. On August 14th, 2018, he created a GoFundMe for Lucy for donations for her treatment. And by this point, he believed traditional chemotherapy wasn't working, so they were asking for money to help pay for alternative treatments. Specifically, there was this doctor in Germany that she wanted to see, but each session was allegedly going to cost $40,000. Here's part of their GoFundMe statement. It says, "My partner and I have chosen to reach out to our family, friends, and international community

• 27:40Kendall Rae?

  for help with Lucy's battle against her stage IV ovarian cancer. The beginning of this year, we were hit with a horrible hand of cards when Lucy was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 26. 2017 was an exciting time for Lucy, fulfilling her dream and passion of one day owning her very own beauty salon. Over the next few months, Lucy's condition deteriorated extremely quickly. This has resulted in the inability to ever have children of her own. Lucy has just started her second cycle of chemotherapy sessions, which brings her treatment to eight. Over the last six months, Lucy has had ultrasounds, scans, blood tests, specialist appointments, and more. Her cancer has now progressed to stage IV ovarian cancer,

• 28:24Kendall Rae?

  giving us the harsh reality that she is terminally ill. Up until this point, we have financed Lucy's treatments on our own. This has exhausted all of our savings, as well as options for personal loans. We have had three different specialists unable to provide us with any hope for a positive outcome. The surgery and treatments have failed to sustain or improve her condition." We are urgently looking to move away from generic Western medicine and need to try alternative treatments in the hope of prolonging Lucy's life. One of these options is extremely expensive. Not only would we have to travel overseas, but each singular session would cost approximately $40,000. And their GoFundMe goal was to hit $100,000 and they got halfway there.

• 29:07Kendall Rae?

  Now, that article I mentioned earlier came out shortly after this and they linked the page, so that's when donations really started to come through. Brad was actually able to pay off his loans as a result of the money that came in and the rest was supposedly going towards her treatment. They even updated their GoFundMe page to thank people for their generosity and they said they were even able to get Lucy a lot of things as a result. They said they got a medical-grade biomat, an air purifying machine, as well as treatments such as vitamin infusions, magnesium therapy and salt therapy. And it wasn't just the GoFundMe donations that they received. Other people in their community actually put together whole events for Lucy just to support her.

• 29:50Kendall Rae?

  A barber put on a Cuts for Cancer event where people could get $20 haircuts and all the proceeds would go to Lucy. And she even helped advertise the event on her social media and was there on the day that the event was taking place, of course. And from that alone, she gained another $500 Australian. Can you imagine showing up to an event where you know the person who is leading it, the barber, is just giving you his time, giving you this money? And you're lying through the entire thing? Like, how dare you even show your face? How could you?

• 30:31Speaker 03

  Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.

• 30:46Speaker 04

  People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic, in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.

• 30:57Speaker 03

  And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.

• 31:02Speaker 05

  One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.

• 31:08Speaker 03

  So join us and hear their stories and more. Because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At The Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At The Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.

• 31:28Speaker 09

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• 32:01Kendall Rae?

  And also, the Townsville Baseball Association made Lucy the recipient of their annual fundraiser to help someone battling ovarian cancer, from which she received $350 Australian. Even Brad's Army Unit put on a raffle and bake sale for her, and a local gym did a boot camp called Get Fit For Lou Day. But as the support for her was mounting from some people, so was the doubt from others. In October of that year, someone attempting to send flowers to her at Townsville Hospital was told that there was no patient receiving treatment there named Lucy Wieland. Now whoever this was must have had major guts, because right away after hearing that,

• 32:42Kendall Rae?

  they just went ahead and sent her a DM accusing her of lying about being sick. Lucy actually used this to play the victim even further. She confided in Jamie and Brad about what had happened and acted super upset about the whole thing. She told them that she had told the hospital not to give out her personal information. Plus, Australia does have something similar to HIPAA. And Jamie even defended her online, because she couldn't believe that anyone would accuse Lucy of something so horrific. Problem though is the suspicion around Lucy when it comes to others was definitely growing and Brad was even being accused of being part of her scheme.

• 33:22Kendall Rae?

  Supposedly, he was even getting death threats about it all, which he actually did not know that she was lying. He had no idea. So that must have been extremely confusing and upsetting for him. But little did he or anyone else know, things were about to come to light. Back in August of 2018, several tips were made to Crime Stoppers and from August to mid-October, Lucy was being investigated. And that investigation came to a head on October 17th, 2018, when a search warrant was executed at her and Brad's house. They searched through the house while Brad was at work and they found evidence to confirm that Lucy was a fraud. Although, honestly, they already knew that.

• 34:06Kendall Rae?

  Prior to this, investigators confirmed that she was never a patient at Townsville Hospital and there was no history of her ever having received cancer treatment. Not only that, but they learned that her claims of needing money to pay for this treatment in Germany was total bullshit. Get this, guys. The treatment that she wanted that was $40,000 per session in Germany was actually available right there in Australia. In fact, the cancer treatment that she wanted was free at Townsville Hospital. So, obviously, it made zero sense that she was asking for money for those treatments and for travel to Germany. And inside her house, they also found further evidence of fraud,

• 34:49Kendall Rae?

  of course. First, they found a pill bottle that was labeled Letrozole, which is a treatment for breast cancer. But when they tested those drugs, it ended up just being a pill that treats urinary tract infections. And she wasn't even a patient of the prescribing doctor labeled on the bottle. Investigators also found a letter from a Dr. Suresh Varma, who stated that Lucy was being treated for stage IV ovarian cancer. And for context, if you haven't already figured it out, this was the letter that Brad used to get a leave of absence from the Army. And this was completely forged. Lucy was not a patient of this doctor. But yeah, I've got to say, one of my personal favorites of the lies is she had started telling people that she was battling stage V cancer.

• 35:34Kendall Rae?

  And stage five cancer obviously doesn't exist. It's just amazing how stupid these people can be. You would think if you were going to commit to a lie like this, to a lie that you have a terminal illness where you're going to die in six months, you would at least do a little bit of research. It is just infuriating and I just want to be clear that this was not a victimless crime, of course. In total, when you add it all up, Lucy scammed hundreds of people out of $72,000, not to mention poor Brad specifically took out $17,000 in loans for her. And he definitely spent money straight out of his own savings as well. And as you can imagine, poor guy could not believe it

• 36:18Kendall Rae?

  when he was told the truth and how it happened is really heartbreaking. He was directly confronted by a detective and a medical examiner while he was just at work one day, normal day. And at first he had thought something horrible had happened to Lucy. He was concerned about her. And then they explained the whole fraud to him. And as you can imagine, he was seeing red. He said, "As soon as I heard someone was saying we were being fraudulent with it, I saw red and was ready to fight anyone who thought there was a hole in the reason why we started the GoFundMe. Creating that GoFundMe took a lot of pride for me to swallow. I never had to ask anyone for money or handouts."

• 37:00Kendall Rae?

  From what I've read, I think he was genuinely shocked to find all of this out. And if you're wondering how she was able to fool him, I mean, you'd be surprised at what people are able to do, especially when you're telling someone that you're this sick. It's just something that most people wouldn't ever imagine someone could lie about. So it's easy to believe someone when you think there's not a chance they're making this up. Of course, why would they? What kind of sick individual would make something like this up, right? And Brad explained that, yeah, for a lot of her treatments, they were scheduled purposely for when he was away at work. And it's also important to note that they had a joint bank account that she managed.

• 37:43Kendall Rae?

  And don't forget, she worked at a bank before all of this. So she was really savvy when it came to that kind of stuff. And I'm sure there are people who think maybe Brad was in on it. But it's important to know that he was never charged with any connection to it. And I truly believe that he was a victim in all of this. And I can see how. You could be tricked by someone like Lucy, like a master manipulator. It happens. It's easier than you would think. And Lucy, on the other hand, oh, she was arrested and charged. In total, she faced seven charges. Four related to fraud, one to forgery, another for uttering a forged document, and a final one for possession of restricted drugs.

• 38:26Kendall Rae?

  And she posted bail while awaiting her trial. Now Brad agreed to let her stay at the house for one week because she didn't have anywhere else to go. But after that, she was on her own. And as for Jamie's reaction to this, she thought there was no way it could be true. At first, she even texted Lucy, saying, "I don't know what's going on, but I support you 100%." But that didn't last very long because Jamie ended up having a conversation with her grandma, who of course is also Brad's grandma, and listened to what she found out. Her grandma said, quote, "Love, I didn't want to say anything earlier, but when she visited me, she spent the whole time complaining about you. She didn't have a nice thing to say. She said you were always too busy to help her, never did any cleaning, and wouldn't leave the apartment, even though she and Brad wanted you out."

• 39:11Kendall Rae?

  And then Jamie texted Lucy, saying, "You're a piece of shit. I never want to speak to you again." And I do not blame her. Can you imagine how infuriated you would be? I mean, Jamie was really, really there for her. And to be told all of that, ah, that had to hurt so bad. So yeah, now Lucy had zero people on her side. She was completely on her own. And as a last ditch effort to save face, she tried to pin it on Brad. How nice. She said, "I've got scars and holes in me that I don't know how I got. Memories of him taking me to appointments that never existed. A criminal charge for something he organized and I had zero access to. This guy has completely cut me."

• 39:55Kendall Rae?

  She also said, "I'm not accusing him of anything, but what the fuck has happened? I thought I was dying. I don't know what the hell has happened to me over the last 10 months. I have no answer for myself, let alone anyone else." I'm sorry, but how do you not remember how you got scars and holes in you? Who is going to believe? Leave this. I honestly think it's just a pathetic and quite frankly evil attempt to shift blame on to anyone but herself. And in the end, she did end up pleading guilty anyway. She was facing up to five years in jail for those six charges and she was ultimately sentenced to only two years with parole eligibility in six months,

• 40:34Kendall Rae?

  which is infuriating, but also not that surprising, especially for Australia. She was also ordered to pay back 29,600 Australian dollars in restitution. And thankfully, GoFundMe did refund those who made donations, which is great to hear. But yeah, to me, this is an extremely unfair, light sentence that she was lucky to get considering what she did. But she still, of course, tried to appeal it. Get this, Lucy actually got pregnant during all of this. Not with Brad's baby, to be clear, but she was saying that she should be given a lighter sentence because of that. And her appeal was denied in August of 2020.

• 41:15Kendall Rae?

  She was released temporarily to give birth. So she actually was pregnant. That wasn't a lie. But she had to go back to jail afterwards and her sentence has been fully served by this point. So I guess Lucy is a free woman. She's out there, people, watch out. And I did see one report that said that she somehow started another beauty business. So I'm guessing she's still doing that. If anyone knows, drop it in the comments because I am curious. Unless she's out there conning more people somehow, which would not surprise me. I don't know. Be careful of Lucy Wieland. Now, this whole case is a textbook example of factitious disorder, specifically digital factitious disorder. Now you may know it as Munchausen.

• 41:59Kendall Rae?

  And now it is referred to, I think, more commonly as factitious disorder. That's definitely starting to spread more. People are becoming aware of that. It's no longer called Munchausen. But digital factitious disorder is the phenomenon where someone deliberately fakes an illness online, specifically to gain sympathy, attention, and in cases like this. Money. Now, this is something to be super aware of in the digital age because unfortunately it is happening more than ever. They do things like shaving their head, losing weight to appear sick, which is exactly what Lucy did. She also joined support groups online and I imagine she did that to steal stories and symptoms from real cancer patients, sort of get inspiration, which we have seen in other

• 42:42Kendall Rae?

  cases too. And I find cases like this just to be so disturbing. Obviously, it's very different than a murder case, you know, what I cover for the most part, but there's just something so, so, I don't even know how to describe it. It like gives me the chills. Disturbing doesn't even begin to cover it because it takes such a sick, sick person to lie about something so serious that hundreds of thousands, I mean, millions of people actually face on a daily basis. And when you add the fraud on top of it, the stealing, not only, you know, weaving your way into people's emotions, but taking from them and just doing

• 43:25Kendall Rae?

  it without even feeling any shred of guilt. I just always feel like the consequences are not strong enough. They really never are in cases like this. And it's interesting how the motive behind people doing this is always slightly different. I think, you know, a big part of the motive here, I think maybe the biggest part of the motive here was trapping Brad and that's what Jamie thinks it was. Like I explained in the beginning, Brad had made it super clear to her that he was not interested in having any type of really committed, serious relationship. And so she went to the extremes to get what she wants by faking cancer so that he will feel bad enough to be with her. And I feel so bad for Brad.

• 44:09Kendall Rae?

  I mean, it seems like he's pretty private and after all of this, I don't blame him. But he has publicly stated that he has a really hard time trusting people now. And yeah, I see why dude, I would never be able to trust another person again. And the poor dude, he has said that all he wants is to eventually start a family, to fall in love, you know, that whole shebang. And his trust issues have just gotten in the way of that. It'd be really hard to move forward with anyone after going through something like Brad did. But that is enough about Lucy. That's all I have to say about her. I need a nap after that one.

• 44:50Kendall Rae?

  Just insane. And to all of you out there who have actually been through cancer or love someone who has been through cancer and have to hear about people like that, if you chose to, of course, listen to this episode, I'd hope that a lot of people who have been through something like that wouldn't want to watch it. But at the same time, if you have been through something like this, maybe watching something like this is, I don't know, not helpful, but it's just interesting to you. Or I don't know, whatever reasons you have, if you have, you know, had these experiences and still chose to watch, I hope it didn't make you too, too angry. Because I don't know

• 45:33Kendall Rae?

  if I were in your position, if I would be able to even consume stories about these sick individuals. It is so insane.

• 45:45Kendall Rae?

  That is going to be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode. And make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Rae. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there.

• 46:14Speaker 10

  She's been thinking about the sleepover all week, but I think about her food allergies all the time. Fortunately, her doctor prescribed Zolair, omalizumab. It's proven to significantly reduce allergic reactions if a food allergy accident happens.

• 46:27Speaker 11

  Zolir 150mg is a prescription medication used to treat food allergy in people one year of age and older to reduce allergic reactions due to accidental exposure to one or more foods. While taking Zolir, you should continue to avoid all foods to which you are allergic. Don't use if you are allergic to Zolir. Zolir may cause a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. Tell your doctor if you ever had anaphylaxis. Get help right away if you have trouble breathing or if you have swelling of your throat or tongue. Zolir should not be used for the emergency treatment of allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. Zolir is for maintenance use to reduce allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, while avoiding food allergens. Serious side effects such as cancer, fever, muscle aches and rash, parasitic infection, or heart and circulation problems have been reported. Please see zolir.com for full prescribing information. Ask an allergist

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