:|
Apparently, she wasn't that good of an actress.
A 23-year-old Canadian woman who went to extreme measures to fake having cancer— including shaving her head, starving herself and plucking her eyebrows — was arrested on Friday.
Ashley Kirilow, of Burlington, Ontario allegedly bilkedfamily, friendsand strangers out of $20,000 for her phony charity, which she said would fund cancer research.
Kirilow turned herself in and could face up to two years behind bars.
She told the Toronto Star that she faked the illness to get back at her family for her dysfunctional childhood, which included her parents battling over her custody.
"I took it as an opportunity to make my family feel bad for how I was treated," she told the paper.
For over a year, the young woman convinced volunteers to arrange benefits for her and even persuaded a cancer-awareness group to send her to Disney World.
She even had her knuckles tattooed with the words "LOVE LIFE" and "WONT QUIT."
The lie started in late 2008 when Kirilow was treated for a benign lump in one of her breasts. She then told everyone she knew that she had breast cancer.
Eventually, her parents and friends became suspicious after she told them she only had weeks to live.
Kirilow said she'd pay back those she took advantage of. As for the scammed cash, she already spent it all.
"I made a really big mistake and it's no ones fault but mine," she said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/08/07/2010-08-07_canadian_fraudster_ashley_kirilow_fakes_cancer_to_raise_20k_arrested.html
Log in to comment