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The Mother Of All Cons S01e01 I Smell A Rat Ip H 264
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00:06maybe we can start with how would you describe the story oh I've tried to describe it it is
00:14just the wildest most bizarre story I mean it's fiction but it's actually real and it actually
00:25happened oh yes bonkers once upon a time a little girl lived with her mother in a small stone cottage
00:43on the edge of a great forest the little girl was poorly but all she thought about was helping
00:51other poorly children it's been an incredible year really believe in magic has grown so much
01:00and more than really we ever dreamed it could
01:07Meg worked night and day to make dreams come true
01:14believe in magic was like no other charity it was more like a family
01:20I love magic Meg was a fairy godmother to all of those children every single child
01:31there was only two of them running this charity a mother and daughter
01:37then one day they found their prince charming
01:43and they told the whole world about believe in magic hi I'm Lou from One Direction me and the boys
01:49have been working with Meg and Jean now for almost as long as you've been in band the power and
01:55might
01:55of One Direction put this celebrity rocket under the feet of Meg and Jean
02:04and they did do unbelievable things
02:08Together they raised thousands and thousands and thousands of pounds to sprinkle magic wherever it was needed
02:19But other people in the forest thought it was too good to be true
02:46You threw in disgusting agitations at us that's one of the worst homes of our whole lives I don't know
02:53why you've done what you've done to us
02:55I hope so much that you'll see how well you've been
02:59Not all fairy tales end happily ever after
03:16I never forget the first time I met Meg
03:19We were ten years old two very small quiet well one quiet ten year old and Meg
03:28It was the two of us against the world
03:32It was just a constant whirlwind of madness and chaos
03:37You never knew what to expect
03:41Guys you've done all the right things to make your place here in the final
03:47That was fantastic performance
03:48Whatever happens
03:50One evening after X Factor Meg called me up
03:55Said I've got this idea I'm going to start a charity
03:59It sounded completely insane
04:02But I knew that if that's what she wanted to do
04:05There was nothing anyone could say or do to stop her
04:09It just gave her something to focus on
04:12Because she had brain tumour
04:15Was in and out of hospital
04:17Going through various tests and treatments
04:21She had big ideas from the get-go
04:23It was very early days for Twitter but there was a lot of celebrities on there
04:29All it would take is a couple of them to support the charity
04:33And it would get the word out there
04:39Any time someone remotely famous picked up on it she was just ecstatic
04:46But for Meg it's all about One Direction
04:52Especially Harry Styles
04:54Pink hearts appeared on screen around him for her
05:06The name Believe in Magic stemmed from her love of Disney
05:12Believing in the magic of the world around you
05:15And just being able to escape day-to-day life
05:18And know that bigger and better things are possible
05:26Meg made everyone believe in magic
05:30Charity was just magical from the off
05:34I want you to go right back to the beginning
05:37Did you have any idea how important Believe in Magic would become in your life?
05:43No, never
05:48Hi Luna
05:59It's not as good of good news as we'd have hoped really I'm afraid
06:05The second we ended up in Great Ormond Street
06:07And we were told that Luna had a brain tumour
06:09Everything changed
06:12We were living on the oncology ward
06:16It's very isolated, it's very lonely
06:19I was incredibly vulnerable
06:23And I think the nurses referred us to the charity Believe in Magic
06:29And we received a wonderful invitation inviting us to a party at Hamley's
06:35Had you heard of Believe in Magic before?
06:38No
06:38What did you know about the charity at that point?
06:41No, I knew nothing about the charity at all
06:47It was only ten minutes down the road from Great Ormond Street
06:50But it was just as far away as you could possibly get
06:55We pulled up and there was a red carpet
07:00It was just wow
07:03Over the years there was lots of Hamley's parties
07:08When we were invited they'd taken over the whole of Hamley's
07:11All three floors
07:12It was impressive
07:15There was all kinds of things going on
07:17And nothing like we'd ever been to before
07:25Anything a child could ever ask for or wish for was there
07:30It was like being in Disneyland
07:31And while you were there you didn't feel like a poorly child's parent
07:36This charity gave me a lifeline
07:39Because you're desperate for answers
07:41And particularly when your child's got something so rare or even undiagnosed
07:45Daisy was our fourth child
07:49And we found that she had this syndrome
07:51Caused by a sporadic G mutation
07:56It's like so rare
07:57I think it's something like one in 1.25 million
08:01Friends you think are going to be friends
08:04Just can't cope
08:07But you find your people
08:10There's a lot of love in this charity
08:12Whereas some can be more formal
08:15This was more of a
08:16Well they did they call themselves the Believe in Magic family
08:20Everything had been set up
08:22By Meg
08:24Who had been very ill herself
08:26And knew what it was like
08:27And wanted to just have treats for other children
08:31And this young excited teenager
08:36Was supported and enabled by her mum to do these things
08:41Jean was very well spoken
08:43Came across very educated
08:45A bit like meeting a head teacher if that makes any sense
08:50Great with people
08:51Very proud of what Meg was creating
08:53Because she was her daughter and she was doing amazing things
09:01I remember thinking Meg is very much like a girl Peter Pan
09:05And she was so excited
09:08As excited as the children
09:11I was incredibly proud of everything that she was doing and achieving
09:15It was just remarkable to watch it all unfold and grow
09:20It's Sunday the 9th of October
09:22And this is Rumble Arena
09:24Welcome to BBC Radio 1's Teen Awards 2011
09:30Is there someone that you know out there
09:32A really amazing person that the world should hear about
09:35This is your chance to nominate them for a BBC Radio 1 Teen Hero Award
09:40I nominated Meg for the Teen Awards
09:42I just thought it was a nice thing to kind of put her up for
09:48We'd known each other since primary school
09:51And I saw what she was achieving online with the charity
09:55As well as juggling her illness
09:58She was probably the most impressive person I knew
10:01So BBC Radio 1's Teen Awards is your chance to celebrate the achievements of remarkable and inspirational teenagers
10:10She was ecstatic that she had been nominated
10:13I was super happy for her
10:15And I got to go enjoy the Teen Awards
10:26She emailed two tickets to me, two to Beth
10:29And then she was nowhere to be seen
10:32She was backstage
10:34With a mission
10:37She had these little purple wristbands made
10:40Walked up to One Direction
10:42Handed them a wristband and said
10:44This is my charity
10:46Please wear this
10:47Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles
10:50And all the One Direction boys
10:53Really liked the message
10:55How can you not want to get involved?
10:59It is time for their first public performance ever
11:03Please welcome to the stage
11:05One Direction
11:07Hello, One Direction
11:10Woo!
11:11You guys are absolutely perfect
11:14You're insecure
11:16Don't know what for
11:18To get them wearing these purple wristbands
11:21She was...
11:22She was...
11:22Just ecstatic
11:30I loved One Direction
11:33I mean, as did probably every teenage girl in the country at that point
11:43It just feels like their word is like absolute God
11:46Like the things that they're interested in, you're interested in
11:50I saw Harry's tweet about this new charity and this really amazing cause
11:56Just followed and then
11:58That's kind of where it all started
12:03Meg became this massive part of the One Direction fandom
12:08This almost like mythical person
12:10But there was all this kind of buzz around
12:12Because she was this like quite young person who had a brain tumour
12:15But doing all this stuff for charity
12:17And then the charity was just like growing and growing incredibly quickly
12:21Guys let them prove, guys let them prove!
12:24A lot of people saw Believe in Magic as a way to like get closer to One Direction
12:28Or to meet them
12:30Donate to Believe in Magic, it is such a brilliant cause
12:33Support a good charity, we all should buy the Believe in Magic wristbands
12:37I remember when June and Meg told me about One Direction coming on board
12:41And things went crazy
12:44And it was brilliant marketing
12:46All of a sudden
12:48All of these young girls were then becoming involved in this little charity
12:53Believe in Magic went global
12:56Hi, it's Louis from One Direction
12:58We've been working with Believe in Magic
13:00And we think Meg and the team are absolutely incredible
13:02Believe in Magic just felt like it had that really authentic connection to them
13:07They would do whatever she asked, it felt like
13:10Donate below
13:11Thank you
13:17I got an email from Believe in Magic
13:20Looking for people to run the Great South Run
13:22And raise money for them
13:24And I thought, yeah, I can run, I can raise money
13:28And that's when I met Meg and Beth for the first time
13:33The three of us had a lot in common
13:35And yeah, we just became really good friends
13:39Jean went to One Direction's mums
13:42We smashed that mountain
13:44And Twiss, who was Harry Styles' mum
13:47Climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Believe in Magic
13:52It was genius
13:55Joanne Deacon, who was Louis Tomlinson's mum
13:58Was throwing parties for Believe in Magic
14:01They were really involved
14:03Because they're just trying to do really nice things
14:05And they're just trying to help vulnerable families
14:16Our second child, Corey, was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive childhood cancer
14:25I would go online all hours
14:27Looking for survivor stories, looking for hope
14:34Believe in Magic opened up that world for parents
14:38When you're going through the most horrendous time of your life
14:42And that's what we were going through
14:44And you'd connect with other parents that understand
14:49It's not your normal friendship
14:51Because it's not about your interests or their interests
14:55It's just about how best to help the child
15:00Adam was five years old
15:02When he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma
15:07It's the club that you would never, ever choose to join
15:10But when you're in it, with all the people going through the same thing at the time
15:14It's the most important thing ever
15:18You share their highs and you suffer their lows
15:24And it becomes all-consuming, it's the only thing that's important
15:32It's the only thing that's important
15:33Hey, Luna
15:34It's Mummy and Luna
15:38Kicking me off the sofa
15:41Luna was our second child
15:43Did you have a nice sleepy?
15:45She was happy, funny, beautiful little girl
15:53She was our whole world
15:56Sorry
16:01It's fine
16:06When Luna passed away
16:08Jean was always there for me
16:13I wouldn't have thought anything of picking the phone up at 2 in the morning
16:16If I needed to cry and talk to her
16:20She would always say the right thing at the right time
16:26And it did feel special
16:28To know that someone cares so much
16:32She was a friend
16:36She did get me through a really dark time
16:39We just had an understanding of what it's like to have a really sick child
16:44And to be scared and not know what's going to happen
16:50I would chat with Jean
16:53Like me, she'd been on a journey
16:57She was a little bit guarded
17:00About how much she would give away
17:03And I mean, that's what a lot of us were like
17:05I know me particularly
17:06It was really hard for me to ever ask for help
17:09Because it felt like as a parent that I was failing
17:15And there was a lot that she kept very close to herself
17:23With every other charity
17:24When a poorly child passes, everything stops
17:29But with Meg and Jean, the magic carried on
17:33It was coming up to Christmas
17:35Meg had sent this cryptic message
17:42About the most magical party
17:44It's a big surprise
17:46We would love Daisy to be involved
17:48And could you tell us her dress size?
17:52I wasn't looking forward to Christmas
17:54We'd only lost Luna four months earlier
17:56We didn't have the tree up at home
17:58I was trying to do my best
17:59To put on a brave front for the other kids
18:00And an invitation arrived in the post
18:03Addressed to Princess Enza, my daughter
18:07Delighted to invite you to believe in magic's princesses at the palace
18:11And then I spoke to one of the friends and said
18:12We're actually going to Buckingham Palace
18:14She said, yes, we're going to decorate the tree
18:15And have an afternoon tea with the princess
18:17Okay
18:25The thing that made me laugh about Meg was just how
18:27Nothing was too big
18:29If she thought about it and she wanted to do it
18:31She would completely focus on doing it
18:33And that just blew my mind
18:40We were all going to gather at the Langham
18:42Which was their favourite five star hotel
18:47Increasingly the charity was cash rich
18:50And you can really see that
18:52As the connection with One Direction happened
18:55There was more and more money coming in
19:02And there's this rack with all these beautiful dresses
19:07All different colours
19:07Made by the designer who had made Kate Middleton's Bridesmaids dresses
19:16It was a complete step out of reality
19:23Meg and Jean were referred to as the fairy godmothers
19:26Because it did feel like they could just make these things happen
19:32That nobody else was able to
19:36Her fairy godmother appeared
19:38And gave her a beautiful gown
19:41Now, what about a carriage?
19:43And then this fleet of Bentleys arrived
19:46It was insane
20:03It was insane
20:05I will never forget going through the gates of Buckingham Palace
20:09And tourists are photographing because they think it's some royal family visit or something
20:16And Daisy had her invitation
20:19And she's waving it
20:20And she loved that
20:22She just played to the crowds
20:30You're kind of looking down these corridors that you only see on TV
20:37And then Princess Eugenie walks into the room
20:41She was lovely
20:43She was just so natural
20:46It was just like a normal afternoon with a princess in a palace
20:51I think everyone stole a toilet roll
20:54It was mad
20:56We were in Buckingham Palace decorating the tree
20:59And Enza had made a decoration of a little moon
21:02And they allowed Enza to hang that on the tree
21:05So there was a little moon for Luna
21:08Hanging on the Buckingham Palace Christmas tree
21:12Good girl
21:13Have you been practising at home?
21:15I think you have
21:17I believed in magic 100%
21:19Jean and Meg made me believe in magic
21:26Meg would quite often disappear during events
21:29And she'd go and sit
21:31She'd be in like a back room or something
21:34Meg put on this public persona basically
21:37To try and hide just how well she was
21:42It's the side of her that she really wanted to keep hidden as much as she could
21:48You could hear her coming a mile away
21:50Because the glass bottles jangling together in her handbag and the pills
21:56Well, do you know what she took? Can you describe that to me? What did you see?
22:00I knew she was taking Oromorph
22:02Because she used to drink it out of the bottle
22:04And I was familiar with Oromorph because Luna was on it
22:07What is it? Oromorph is morphine
22:09It's liquid morphine
22:11It's very strong, it's very addictive
22:14Very bad for you
22:16And we always used to say to her, Meg, that stuff's going to kill you
22:33Summer 2014 was the start of the end
22:40Everything changed that summer
22:44Hello
22:46Alex, can you take some photos please?
22:48First few years of her illness, it was always
22:52When I'm better, we're going to do everything that she was missing out on
22:57She'd had five years of treatment in the UK
23:01But not really made any progress
23:04If anything, things had gotten worse
23:06And she's got operations scheduled for the end of summer
23:14Meg told us the operation was risky and dangerous to her
23:21And she believed that she wasn't going to survive the operation
23:32Meg was awake for the first part
23:37Sending messages throughout
23:41And then just complete radio silence
23:46Didn't hear anything from Meg or Jean
23:58And then Harry Styles tweets
24:02Thinking of you, Meg
24:06It went massive
24:09Massive fear and panic
24:12Kept building and building that actually
24:14This is it
24:15She's died
24:19So many people from all corners of the globe
24:22Knew who Meg was
24:24Because of One Direction
24:28We knew that Jean was very close with Anne
24:32Harry's mum
24:34And we were kind of thinking
24:36He's heard news from his mum
24:39Who's heard it from Jean
24:41It was really, really weird
25:04I was obviously very just relieved that she was still alive
25:08So Beth and I went to visit her
25:13She had a big valve coming out of her head
25:16Hooked up to IVs and I mean she looked like someone who had been through major brain surgery
25:23She was obviously putting on a bit of a front about how she was actually doing
25:27But that was just Meg
25:29It's what she did best
25:32She told me that her condition was so rare and the tumour was growing and there was kind of nothing
25:38else that could be done to kind of shrink it or sort of stop it and it would kind of
25:43kill her eventually
25:46At that time, a lot of the children from Believe in Magic were receiving treatment in America
25:52In America, you would be able to access some other treatment that was potentially going to save you
26:02Adam our youngest was going through treatment for neuroblastoma
26:07We were fundraising for years
26:10We travelled to America back and forth for nine plus months
26:21The thing about going abroad for treatment is obviously you incur all costs at that point
26:30It can be catastrophic
26:32If your child develops, you know, a serious infection
26:36Or you're talking, you know, tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars
26:45December 2014, myself and my friend and both our families, we decide to meet up with Meg and Jean at
26:52the IV in London
26:56Meg had gained a lot of weight and her hair was very, very thin
27:01She had like a very wide hairline, she was very dark-haired, so it was very noticeable
27:08And she mentioned that her tumour has grown by 600%
27:13We literally doubled, it was like, what?
27:16You know, my friend and I were like, okay, what are we going to do?
27:18What's the plan? What have they suggested? We need to help you
27:23Meg and Jean started this huge fundraiser to get Meg out to the US for proton bean therapy
27:34To try and shrink down this tumour
27:37I became aware of Help Save Meg because of social media, people sharing it
27:44Which is what happens, this is an emergency appeal
27:48Everybody is behind them and there's kind of a momentum to get them where they need to be
27:55We have to raise 120,000
27:58And she needs it in two weeks
28:00It was just a shock, like, oh gosh, I didn't realise that it was this serious
28:05There would be certain parents were sharing to all the known parents
28:09Look, we need to raise this money for our Meg
28:15We ourselves had gone out to the States for Daisy to be reviewed by the world experts on her syndrome
28:22Because there was no way in the UK any of that could have been done
28:28A lot of the Believe in Magic families knew how important that charity was
28:34And now Meg needed something back and people wanted to give something back to Meg
28:42They did it, and they did it really, really quickly
28:46They raised £120,000 in the space of a couple of days
28:52It was incredible
28:54I had never seen anybody raise that amount of money in that amount of time before
29:03And then, two weeks later, there's another update from Jean to say they've come home
29:09And they've not had the treatment
29:12Unfortunately, when we met with the radiation oncologist
29:16Within minutes of reviewing the scan, he could see that things were a lot more complicated
29:21And what we were facing was far worse than we thought
29:27There was a message about she wasn't a candidate
29:31That she'd been assessed and we weren't able to have the proton beam therapy
29:36Because the tumour has grown tentacles and was wrapped around the optic nerve
29:40So therefore it was too dangerous
29:44And I'm just like, yeah, I get that, I get that totally
29:50By this point, Andy, my husband, was diagnosed with terminal cancer
29:54They found multiple tumours that had wrapped around his hepatic artery
30:00So it was inoperable
30:02So I knew how these things can happen
30:13So they'd come home and we're going to refund the money?
30:16That's just what you do, yeah
30:17She didn't have the treatment, so you give the money back
30:21It was very different to anything that I knew
30:25Obviously, I'd been through my journey and I knew that you fundraise
30:29The money goes to like a trust who manage it and they pay your hospital bills
30:33So I didn't understand how they were doing things
30:37It was just odd, to say the least
30:42We've made the very difficult decision to come back
30:47They might have even said, you know, to continue to sprinkle magic
30:55And that's what they did
30:59It was unbelievable
31:05The Cinderella Ball was at the Natural History Museum
31:11The 1D boys were there
31:13Louis and Liam were going to host it
31:17It did feel like, you know, Meg and Jean had made the big time
31:24I became involved in the parties after Luna had passed away
31:30Just helping
31:33I think there may have been a little bit of jealousy
31:36Because obviously we were at every party
31:38And I'm sure there were some families who perhaps may not have been invited to those parties
31:44It all seemed to be very sort of exclusive
31:47And who wouldn't have wanted a chance to have gone to this amazing ball with the world's biggest boy band
31:53So there was definitely jealousy among some of the parents
31:56I would say, well, why is it always those families?
31:59Is it because my kid's not cute?
32:02Or, you know, it's, he's a boy
32:04Or they don't fit the mould
32:06Or they're not in with the in crown, the inner sanctum
32:10The children had handmade clothing
32:13I think the boys' suits were made by Ralph Lauren
32:16It was out of this world
32:20The Cinderella Ball was huge on social media and it was trending
32:27I tweeted, wow, amazing
32:28See One Direction at the Natural History Museum
32:31Some of my friends' kids are there
32:33You know, these are sick kids
32:34What an amazing thing
32:35And then Jean messaged me
32:37She said, could you take that down, please?
32:40Because we don't want people to know that One Direction are there
32:42Because all the fans or mobs are placed
32:44Alright, sorry, Jean
32:48But you can't be doing these big events with Louis Tomlinson
32:53And not have that all over Twitter
32:57Wow, thank you very much, everybody, for coming
33:00It is an incredible privilege for me and my mum as well
33:03The charity is absolutely incredible
33:06It's run by two people, Donna and Dawson
33:08Which I think is incredible
33:10It was organised by Louis and his mum
33:14I just think they were really lovely people who
33:17Could see that they could do something
33:20And they did
33:21Anyone here that knows Jean and Meg
33:24They believe in magic
33:25Will need no introduction to their kindness
33:28They give their time for nothing
33:29They ask for nothing back
33:31They do everything themselves
33:36I felt really proud for Meg and Jean
33:40This is the biggest and the best
33:42This is, you know, all of her ambitions have come together
33:45And it was exciting to be a part of that
33:47And it was exciting to be a part of that
33:53So when the Cinderella Ball happened
33:55There were other families whose children didn't get invited
34:00That clearly created some upset
34:08Parents said, please, can I come along?
34:12And, you know, it was like, no, we can only choose the sickest children
34:18But it wasn't wheelchair accessible
34:20There were stairs and things
34:22And so there was a lot of sniping started to happen
34:25All these little people were contacting me
34:28Have you been invited? What's going on with this?
34:30It was so divisive
34:34Anybody that kind of disagreed with Jean
34:36Or questioned her
34:38She could be quite nasty in a response online
34:42A couple of parents asked
34:44What is your criteria for selecting?
34:47They were closed down very quickly by Jean
34:50I saw one social media post where Jean said
34:55You weren't saying that when we gave you that iPad
35:01If somebody did say the wrong thing
35:03Jean could be really quite brutal
35:07That served to keep people in their rightful place
35:11People were scared of Jean
35:16There was an article from the Sunday Times
35:19Where it indicated, you know, how much money
35:22Believe in Magic received on the back of their One Direction connection
35:28They received at least half a million from two different meet and greets
35:33And things that had been auctioned off
35:37And all of a sudden you've got Meg and Jean
35:39Doing things that nobody could quite believe
35:43Ted here is going to switch on the Christmas lights
35:46We're going to count them down for five
35:48Five, four, three, two, one
36:00Meg received a point of light award from David Cameron
36:04Well, I thought it was amazing and I thought it was well deserved
36:07Because she did deserve it, you know, she deserved recognition for all that she did for the children
36:16They were amazing people, they did amazing things, they cared about everybody
36:23Meg didn't seem to put herself first ever
36:26It was always, always about the children and the parents
36:31There was all kinds of magic
36:38There were trips to Disney
36:40What was their special relationship with Disney?
36:45Because they mentioned this quite a bit
36:46Meg was just obsessed with Disney
36:51If Meg could have lived in Disneyland
36:54That's where she would have liked to have lived
36:57I think maybe it was the unreal, the magical side of things
37:02You know, it was make-believe
37:04You know, it was make-believe
37:04And escapism from hospitals and illness and whatever else Meg was trying to escape from
37:15And Meg's health was deteriorating
37:19But there was quite often something new
37:26Hi everyone, it's Jean
37:29We're currently in the US
37:31After recently having septicemia
37:34And another blood clot
37:36The tumour in Meg's brain has given her severe immunodeficiency
37:42We found out Meg's immune system is much weaker than previously thought
37:49I remember seeing on Facebook in 2016 that Meg went back to the US for some more treatment and testing
38:00There's a sign that things are very serious
38:04There were posts from Jean just about how unwell Meg had been
38:09How close she had been to death on a couple of occasions
38:14So everybody's waiting for news, people are invested, people care about Meg
38:22And then, out of the blue
38:26The message came from a parent
38:29Doubting what was going on
38:36And that message hurt deeply a lot of people
38:41Like someone threw a grenade and then kind of walked away
38:58Who was Sarah Smith?
39:00I didn't know, but I had a feeling
39:04Who it might be
39:10And who was that?
39:13So there was a parent that Meg and Jean had told me about
39:18Who's kind of always had a bit of a problem with Meg and Jean
39:24I don't know the ins and outs of it
39:28All I know is what Meg and Jean told me
39:33That this person was very upset because their son was no longer invited to the parties
39:37And Meg and Jean's answer was always, well, their son is cured and we have lots of referrals every week
39:44So we have to make room for new children
39:51Why did you do it?
39:54Am I allowed to swear? Am I allowed to say full of shit? Are you having that in the documentary?
39:59So I just had a hunch that Jean's full of shit
40:03Were you a disgruntled parent? A kind of a jealous mum who felt that her son had missed out?
40:09No, absolutely not
40:11No, absolutely not
40:12We were invited to two more parties that I turned down
40:16I was like, appreciate it
40:17And I really, really, I was so grateful that my son was doing okay
40:26Cory was out of treatment, so he was now in remission
40:31Like, that is everything
40:35The last place I was was wanting to take something off another child
40:39But what made you have suspicions?
40:48It all started for me in 2015 when I saw the Help Save Meg appeal
40:55I'd been in this cancer world for a couple of years
40:58So you get to know the oncologist or the reason why people travel or which hospitals
41:03So I was kind of just purely out of interest looking for that information
41:08And it was very vague
41:10But at the same time, very, very over the top
41:15Unfortunately, when we met with the radiation oncologist
41:19Within minutes of reviewing the scan, he could see that things were a lot more complicated
41:23And what we were facing was far worse than we thought
41:27The tumour in her brain has not only grown in a very difficult location
41:31But developed tentacles which has wrapped itself around one of the two main arteries in Meg's brain
41:36And the primary blood supply to her brain
41:39To complicate things even more, Meg has a serious systemic infection
41:44Which has pocketed itself somewhere within her body
41:47It's so extreme, they were at death's door
41:51There was infection on infection on infection, like more infections
41:54And I never heard anything like it
41:57There was just so many questions
42:01Were they amazing women that were just in this for the children?
42:05Was Megan really sick?
42:08Or are they doing this for money?
42:12So I messaged Nick
42:15Joe messaged me
42:18I smell a rat
42:20I smell a rat
42:34By this point, I had really stepped away from the community
42:41I was attempting to put my life back together
42:49My son Adam tragically passed away in 2013
42:55And unless you've been through this, you're not going to understand this
43:04The worst thing is not when your child dies
43:23What I expected
43:25What I expected
43:42So that's just a catastrophic moment
43:46But actually then, your life becomes very busy
43:50Because you have things to organise
43:52You have this massive outpouring of collective grief
43:57When I posted about Adam dying
43:58I actually thought that what people would say
44:01Would not be
44:04But it was so meaningful
44:10Then
44:11Once
44:13You've done what you need to do
44:15And once you've said your goodbyes
44:17Then
44:19There's just a void
44:28You have to
44:29Somehow
44:31Move forward with your life
44:34And you get busy
44:38And you know, you could look at Jean's social media feed
44:41And there was some odd stuff on there about
44:43She wrote for a national newspaper
44:46And she had a Harley Street clinic
44:48And she was an agony aunt
44:52I found out
44:53She went by three different names
44:54Bari, Stanton, O'Brien
44:57And she used different names for different things
44:59It's like, yeah, it's kind of
45:01These things are kind of odd
45:14And then he was like, maybe they're just being private
45:18And I would just put, yeah, maybe
45:21Because I knew that I'd kind of given him the seed of doubt
45:25I absolutely thought there are questions here
45:33Joe is pretty headstrong and forthright
45:38She was convinced
45:40It was a scam
45:41I'm much more hesitant and
45:44Very, very cautious
45:45He was just, right, listen Joanna
45:47They have got such a support network
45:50They are so well connected
45:51And they are so well thought of
45:55If you put your head above the parapet with this
45:58And you're wrong
45:59You'll get shot
46:00Let's get this right
46:02Before we do something that we might wish that we hadn't
46:08And then in summer 2016
46:10Nick messaged me
46:16And it was another appeal for Megan
46:21And this time Megan had sepsis
46:23And it was all very serious
46:25You know we would never ask unless we absolutely had to
46:28But we would both be so grateful if any of you would be able to help with some fundraising
46:34A lot of the donations coming in were parents that had sick children
46:38That was the community they were in
46:40That was the community they were asking for money from
46:42All the money went straight into Jean's bank account
46:46I didn't like the sound of that
46:49In order to raise money for Corey
46:51We put the money into a trust fund with non-family member trustees
46:56So there was no question over the money
46:59Whereas with Believe in Magic
47:00The trustees were Jean, Jean's son and Jean's son's wife
47:08It's Megan's family that are controlling the charity money
47:11And deciding where it's spent
47:13And I just thought that was wrong
47:16First thing we did was look at Meg and Jean's immediate family
47:21Did anybody back up their story?
47:25About Meg desperately ill in hospital
47:28Mounting medical bills
47:30There didn't seem to be that family effort
47:33For example, Megan's sister-in-law was posting about a cat
47:41Not even Jean's followers know what hospital
47:44There's no information
47:46So I came up with this ridiculous idea
47:50That I would offer to donate some money
47:53Directly to the hospital where Meg was treated
47:56And obviously in the process of doing that
47:59I would find out once and for all
48:01They were being treated at X hospital
48:04Therefore the story's real
48:09And then I waited
48:16And then I got a message to say she was ever so grateful
48:20But unfortunately it wouldn't be possible for me to donate direct to the hospital
48:26Nick probably doesn't understand how the US healthcare system works
48:32We spent months in the US with Adam
48:37Just nonsense
48:44Her immune system is basically non-existent right now
48:48And everyone is shocked at just how long she's been totally neutropenic
48:53Her white blood cells go from being crazily high to completely leukopenic
48:58And even still new infections have been growing
49:16So Jean's son, Nick, was one of the trustees
49:21And it was possible to guess people's email addresses
49:27Just by going on to Facebook and saying that you forgot your password
49:34They gave you enough of an email hint that you could figure out people's email addresses
49:41So it's decided that we use an alias and email Nick
49:48It was just poking him or provoking him
49:51Pointing out that the charity has to be run properly etc
49:55He went straight to Jean
49:57And Jean then had that email address
49:59And then what happened next?
50:01We didn't expect it all
50:08Oh my god
50:13Shit
50:15Shit
50:18Have I got this wrong?
50:20What if she really is sick?
50:22What if you have taken her away from her daughter's bedside
50:25And you've made life difficult for her
50:27What if there is proof?
50:28What if there's 20 pages of proof?
50:29And your heart stops
50:31You're like, oh my goodness
50:34I did say to everybody
50:36Don't panic just yet
50:39Because of the nature of Adam's disease
50:41I acquired a knowledge and understanding
50:43Which is not normal of parents
50:50There were no names
50:51No hospitals
50:53No doctors
50:55Why do you need to redact?
50:58Why can't we know the hospital name?
51:00Why can't we know the doctor's name?
51:02What are you scared of ultimately?
51:06There was lab results and blood work
51:09And actually when you looked at it
51:11Meg had some abnormal blood results
51:15Some were elevated, some were low
51:18But Jean says Meg is neutropenic and leukopenic
51:23With severe lactic acidosis
51:26And severe sepsis etc etc
51:30If she was really, really that ill
51:32Her neutrophils should have been zero
51:35So she clearly wasn't neutropenic at all
51:43Somebody in the street might be convinced by this
51:48Unfortunately I'm not
51:52Clearly we were being messed about
51:58Not only was she not giving us answers
52:00But she was almost insulting my intelligence
52:03By sending through this document
52:08I just got to the point where I was very suspicious of the pair of them
52:14Don't believe that she's dying in a hospital bed with sepsis
52:18So where are they then?
52:21Nick came to say
52:24I've got an idea
52:29So my background is in IT
52:32I'm not a hacker by trade by any means
52:36But I had this idea that I would use a piece of software
52:40Where you can send an email to Meg and Jean
52:44And if they open the email
52:47There is a chance that you'll be able to capture certain information
52:51Such as the IP address
52:54And from that IP address you can narrow down where Meg and Jean were
53:01I thought it was amazing, didn't even know you could do that
53:10I set up an email alias
53:13I used a combination of my middle name and Adam's middle name
53:18It was James Lucas
53:24And then it was just a question to wait and see whether or not somebody opened it
53:37I got a notification that Jean opened the email
53:42Got the IP address
53:45And I did a very broad Google search on it
53:54One of the search results is a review posted in a Google Groups by somebody called Sue, bless her
54:02For Kidani Village in Animal Kingdom in Disney in Florida
54:10The association of Meg and Jean with Disney was enough to pique my interest
54:18It kind of all made sense
54:20They went there every summer, every winter
54:25Where else were they going to be?
54:29And I don't know what made me do it
54:31But I picked up the phone
54:32And I dialed
54:35Animal Kingdom
54:38And I asked for Jean
54:39Can I speak to Jean?
54:42And then realised that she had three surnames
54:44And decided to pick Bari
54:47And the person said
54:50Connecting you now
54:58Jean answered
55:01In Jean's rather unmistakable voice
55:06And I put the phone down
55:11Wow
55:14So she's in Disney
55:16Where people go
55:16For holidays
55:25I go and tell the group
55:27Phone
55:27Ask for Bari
55:28And I remember
55:29I typed it out in all capitals
55:31B-H-A-R-I
55:35Yeah, have a go
55:37It's too shocking to believe
55:38So there is a part of you that thinks
55:40Is he joking?
55:42And then all the information was coming through
55:44We were looking online
55:46We were seeing giraffes
55:47We were seeing wildlife
55:48We were seeing luxury
55:51So at that point
55:53It's like, right, we've got you
55:55What on earth are you doing in a four-star villa
55:58While appealing for money?
56:00Because your daughter is so sick
56:03Obviously I'd established that Jean
56:04Was in Animal Kingdom
56:07That didn't actually say anything about
56:09Where Meg was at this time
56:11Or what was going on with Meg
56:16What was going on with Meg
56:17What was going on with Meg
56:18What was going on with Meg
56:20What was going on with Meg
56:22Joe stepped up to the plate
56:24To try and find out
56:26If Meg was there as well
56:35At that moment you don't know
56:36Whether you're even going to get past
56:38The receptionist
56:41But I thought, I just need to do this
56:42I just need to find out
56:44I just need to find out
56:44T-shirt
56:44T-shirt
56:44T-shirt
56:47T-shirt
56:56T-shirt
56:57T-shirt
56:58I hadn't really thought about what I was going to say
57:01So I was like
57:02Is Megan there?
57:04Can you speak to Megan please?
57:07Megan?
57:19She said Megan's sleeping
57:23and that was an instinctive response
57:28and so we took it that Meg and Jean were both in Disney
57:33in Florida
57:36I was like, oh my goodness, they're there
57:38oh my goodness, they're there
57:40Megan is not in intensive care
57:43so I kind of composed myself and then rang back
57:52Hi, is Megan there, please?
57:54Who is it? I said, is Megan there?
57:56No, Megan's not here, Megan's in a hospital
57:59Megan's very, very unwell, who is it?
58:01Completely changed the story
58:02now she's lying because she said Megan's asleep
58:05now she's saying Megan's in hospital
58:07so she knows by the second phone call
58:11that people are on tour
58:17I said, we're going to get to the bottom of it
58:22and we had no idea
58:26what it would lead to or where it would take us
58:58but she's so proud to be able to get to the bottom of it
58:58so she's so proud to be able to take us
58:58she's so proud to be able to get to the bottom of it
58:58so she's like, can you see me for naught
59:06Transcription by CastingWords
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