Dying child was charity cash scam
JACQUI GODDARD
FOR nine months, seven-year-old Hannah Milbrandt had been preparing for her own death after her mother broke the news that she had leukaemia. A baseball cap covered her balding head and a sticking plaster marked the spot where her chemotherapy drugs were pumped into her.
So the Ohio schoolgirl was as surprised as the 11,600 townsfolk who rallied round to raise funds for her treatment when police revealed that her "illness" was nothing but a hoax - perpetrated by her own mother.
It was, Teresa Milbrandt has confessed with astonishing understatement, "a little white lie that got out of control".
Sergeant David Reese of Urbana, Ohio, said: "She admitted that the girl did not have any life-threatening disease, did not have leukaemia and that the whole story was basically made up. But Hannah thought she was dying."
Mrs Milbrandt, 35, tricked her daughter and the local community into believing the child had leukaemia to hoodwink cash out of kindly donors who thought it would help meet the costs of expensive specialist treatment.
Thinking every cent they collected would increase the little girl’s chances of survival, Urbana residents rattled collecting tins, donated prizes for raffles and attended fundraising events.
Pubs and churches held collections, firefighters raided their union funds, businesses passed the hat round or dug into corporate finances and hundreds of local children collected ring-pulls from drinks cans which they cashed in to help swell the ‘Save Hannah’ appeal.
Police say they have already established that Mrs Milbrandt, who is expected to face charges of fraud, theft and child endangerment, was handed at least $10,000 (£6,500), although they believe the final figure will be far higher. It is not clear what she did with the money. "By the time we get done, there’s going to be a lot of charges here," said Sgt Reese.
Yesterday, the town was in emotional shock. "I’ve delivered death messages that people have taken easier than some of the people are taking this," said Sgt Reese. "They’re just destroyed."
Hannah’s father, Robert Milbrandt, 44, claims he too was a victim of his wife’s plot, though police are also treating him as a possible suspect, claiming he found out a month ago but failed to blow the whistle.
Mr Milbrandt said he has checked his wife into a mental health unit and thinks that anti-depression medication may have caused her actions: "I don't think that Terri did it intentionally because her and Hannah are very close. She can’t explain it. Terri has a hard time grasping reality right now.
" I don’t know how you can be married to someone for so long, have them lie to you and you not know."
Businesswoman Tish Turnmire raised more than $700 (£450) among customers at her nail salon, cooked a Thanksgiving dinner for the Milbrandt family last month and persuaded a toy shop to sell her a discounted Barbie Dream House to give to Hannah for Christmas. She feels betrayed. "You do something out of the goodness of your heart thinking you’re helping, and you find out they've been lying to you all this time," she complained.
The deception began in March, when Mrs Milbrandt gave her daughter sleeping pills to knock her out. When Hannah awoke feeling groggy and confused, her hair was gone and she her mother said she had undergone chemotherapy. She placed a large plaster on the girl's chest, saying it was to cover the point at which the tube used to feed cancer-killing drugs into her body had been inserted, and even took her daughter to a counsellor to help her mentally prepare for her death.
As word spread and the charity appeal snowballed, Mrs Milbrandt staged hospital visits.
She would tell Hannah they were going to the doctor, drive until the girl nodded off - often helped by pills - then take her home telling her she had been treated while unconscious.
She researched leukaemia on the Internet, being careful to choose a form of the disease which can be cured in some sufferers so she could ultimately announce that Hannah had recovered.
If anyone ever asked her a question about her daughter's condition, she would look up the answer on the web. Her computer, which has been seized by police, shows she had even logged on for fundraising tips and visited the website of a charity that grants wishes to terminally ill children.
"Mom did a lot of homework," said Sgt Reese. "Nobody would have ever known."
In the end, staff at Hannah's school became suspicious after noticing that the lively youngster’s hair was not falling out but had clearly been hacked or shaved. They called police a week ago.
Hannah is now staying with relatives. "We’ve explained everything to her," said Mr Milbrandt. "She’s thrilled she's not sick." |
