Accusations of fraud have been leveled against a mother of two who is asking for assistance from the public to pay for a house addition to enhance the quality of life for her crippled daughter who is suffering from a rare disorder and might not have much time left.
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Helen Mathers' life is focused on her 12-year-old daughter Libby, who may be the sixth person in the world to have a hereditary regressive syndrome, in addition to cerebral palsy, epilepsy, Chiari malformation type 1, Autism, and other neurological disorders.
In August, the 37-year-old Newark, Nottinghamshire resident set up a GoFundMe website to solicit donations from the general public for a new addition to better Libby's life.
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As Libby "fades away" in front of her, Helen says the £40,000 she intends to earn will be just half of what it will cost to construct a wet room and a basement bedroom.
Helen alleges that despite Libby's serious illness, which physicians have yet to definitively identify, she has come under pressure from others who think her fundraiser is a hoax.
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After hearing rumors of her campaign being discredited, Helen raged on social media: "U and ur pathetic friend try and sabotage my daughters GoFundMe, my attempt to try and make the rest of her very short life more comfortable out of spite."
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She told the Daily Star: "We don’t know what’s up with Libby, we may never know. We have no idea how long we have her. I just want to be able to shower her and to make her comfortable. Her dad and I are planning Lapland and Disneyland too as we want memories."
"Watching your daughter fade away in front of you is the most painful thing I have ever experience and I feel powerless that I cannot help her."
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Online donations of approximately £3,000 have already been sent to the cause, and relatives and friends are organizing fundraising activities.
The mom-of-two told the Daily Star: "I’m tired and I just want my kids to be happy. These people are trying to break me and my children and I refuse to be broken, my kids need me, they are innocent."
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Posting on Facebook, Helen fumed: "Come at me all you like but my leave my kids alone, especially one who is so ill and the outlook is bleak."
She added that Libby is on an "insane" amount of medication and has five doctors involved in her case.
"It never ends," Libby said. "The appointments. The research I continuously do to try and help Libby, it never ends."
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"I’m rarely getting a donation for her. If we don’t get enough we don’t get the build, it’s as simple as that. There’s nothing out there to help but people generosity. I really don’t know what else to do."
"I've had some offers of people doing the work and providing materials for free and cost price to try and reduce the amount too. But we cannot start until we have enough money or enough man power."
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