An Australian mummy blogger has been blocked from accessing up to $60,000 of donations to an online fundraiser for her sick baby after she was accused of faking the child’s brain tumour by drugging her.
The mother-of-four, who cannot be named to protect the infant’s identity, gained more than one million followers by documenting her child’s life-threatening illness in great detail on her social media accounts.
Hospital staff are understood to have raised the alarm after the mother’s online updates about the child’s surgery didn’t match her actual treatment. The baby was placed into foster care on October 21 and is understood to be recovering.
A GoFundMe campaign launched in June as the toddler was said to be fighting for life in a coma raised more than $60,000 from donors.
However, the funds have been frozen after Queensland police said they were investigating the woman over reports of ‘child harm’.
A spokeswoman for GoFundMe said the page will no longer accept donations or allow funds to be withdrawn but that the money would be returned to those who donated ‘in the rare case that something is not right’.
‘Our Trust and Safety specialists are investigating the accusations made as part of our standard due diligence process. This includes co-operating with police investigations,’ the spokeswoman said.
It comes as the woman’s estranged husband, who is the child’s father, has also publicly accused her of drugging the child.
The child’s father has publicly accused the mother of drugging their one-year-old (stock)
Hundreds of kind hearted strangers donated to the cause
People have been suspicious of the mothers intentions for months
He claimed to have no idea of what was allegedly going on and had believed surgeries would help his child’s non-cancerous tumours and seizures.
‘For what it’s worth, I had no idea about what [the mother] was doing to [the child],’ the devastated father said in a social media post on Monday.
‘I pushed for those surgeries because in my heart I felt it would help.
‘I didn’t realise [the child] was [allegedly] being drugged the entire time causing her symptoms to be what they were.
‘I do my best to love and protect my children. I should’ve done better for them. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect [the child] the way I should have.’
The couple were previously active on multiple social media platforms but their accounts are no longer being updated.
On Tuesday, Queensland Police confirmed their investigation in a statement to Daily Mail Australia but no charges have been laid.
‘Police are aware of reports of child harm against a one-year-old girl,’ police said.
‘The Queensland Police Service has taken action to protect the child and commenced an investigation.
‘As this is an active investigation it would be inappropriate to provide further comment.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted both parents for comment.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk