Online sleuths exposed Sarah Delashmit’s 20-year cancer fraud, uncovering a disturbing web of fake illnesses, identities and personal tragedies.
Sarah Delashmit did not invent one fatal diagnosis. She assembled an entire repertory company of sick children, grieving mothers, dead babies and terminal patients—then played nearly every role herself. Across two decades, the Illinois woman claimed to have leukemia, breast cancer, brain cancer, Ebola, muscular dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy. She faked pregnancies, disabilities and family members with unnerving commitment. Money eventually made the scheme prosecutable, but sympathy was always its real currency.
The Lie Had Usernames
The first serious crack appeared inside an online support group for parents of children with spinal muscular atrophy. In 2006, volunteer moderator Andrea Smith noticed that the medical details shared by a supposed mother named Connie did not track with the disease. Another suspicious user, Megan, appeared to be posting from the same IP address.
Smith followed the digital crumbs into other forums and found more invented identities. One had even obtained a handmade quilt from Cole’s Quilts, a charity serving children with SMA. Unfortunately for Delashmit, the quilt came embroidered with the recipient’s name. After all the fake mothers and imaginary children, a piece of needlework gave her away.
Police recovered the quilt but filed no charges. Delashmit was treated as a lonely college student whose online behavior was disturbing rather than criminal. It was less a punishment than a rehearsal note, and the performance continued.
Taking the Fraud Offline
Delashmit’s stories soon escaped the safety of a computer screen. At college, she told roommates her childhood leukemia had returned; one reportedly shaved her head in solidarity. Years later, while working as a nurse, she faked pregnancies and claimed that prematurely born twins had died. The deception contributed to her losing her Oklahoma nursing license.
Her most invasive performance unfolded at Camp Summit in Texas. Claiming muscular dystrophy and paralysis, Delashmit used a motorized wheelchair and accepted more than $2,500 in financial assistance. Counselors fed, dressed and bathed her, even helping with intensely personal care.
During a later visit, relatives and a pastor arrived to confront her. Delashmit responded with a reveal too brazen for reality television: she stood up, walked to their vehicle and left. No explanation, no final monologue—just the supposed paralysis disappearing on cue.
Cancer, a Stalker and One Lie Too Many
Delashmit eventually entered the Young Survival Coalition community by posing as a survivor of stage IV breast cancer. She received donated items, financial benefits and access to events intended for actual patients. There she befriended Liz and Brian Hickox, telling them she was also dying from brain cancer and being hunted by a dangerous stalker.
The story collapsed when Delashmit claimed the stalker had shot her and several bystanders outside an Illinois Walmart. Brian searched for coverage of the mass shooting and found nothing. A deeper search uncovered her nursing sanctions and years of warnings from former victims.
In 2019, Delashmit appeared on Dr. Phil, admitted she had a “lying addiction” and agreed to inpatient treatment. She left within days. Soon afterward, she was already pursuing new charity opportunities and another expensive bicycle.
The Internet Finally Became a Case File
The television appearance did something Delashmit had spent years preventing: it connected her victims. Smith, the Hickoxes, former caregiver Bethany Turner and others pooled timelines, aliases and evidence. Smith’s spreadsheets of recurring usernames and spelling mistakes became more useful than any dramatic confession.
Once investigators documented financial aid, donated equipment and fraudulent transactions, the emotional hoaxes finally became federal crimes. Delashmit pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud. In 2021, she received 18 months in prison, three years of supervision, a fine and $7,629 in restitution.
That figure barely hints at the damage. Friends had mourned children who never existed. Volunteers learned that their most intimate acts of care had been obtained through deception. Delashmit did not merely steal money from cancer and disability communities; she made compassion feel like a vulnerability. The online sleuths caught her because they refused to accept that humiliation as the price of having believed someone.