News: Should we have sympathy for the girl who faked cancer?

Hundreds of charitable people have been duped into donating money to a woman who allegedly faked a cancer diagnosis’but some people on Facebook are saying she should be forgiven.

Ashley Anne Kirilow, 23, of Burlington, Ont., who will appear in court today on fraud charges, reportedly claimed that she had breast cancer, brain cancer, liver cancer stomach cancer and ovarian cancer in various combinations, even going so far as to shave her head and pluck her eyebrows and eyelashes to appear as though she’d been through chemo.

Friends and family held benefits to raise money to help her through her illness and she started a charity on Facebook called ‘Change for a Cure,’ claiming she was raising money for cancer research. But Kirilow has admitted to the Toronto Star that she did not have cancer at all and that she has spent the money she raised. Volunteers for her charity say that she raised about $20,000, but Kirilow says it was no more than $4,000, reports the Star.

Kirilow told the Star that she is sorry for what she has done and blames a difficult childhood for her behaviour. Indeed she should be very sorry. But should we view this scheme as a cry for help or a straight-up con? Members on the ‘Change for a Cure’ Facebook page have opened up discussions about what Kirlow has done’some are outraged, calling Kirilow ‘useless waist [sic] of space.’ But others are surprisingly compassionate. ‘I feel all she wanted was attention, and did what she thought was right to gain it’ let’s not let hate and anger eat at our souls,’ says member Moustafa Sayegh in a post on the group’s discussion board.

What do you think? Was this a cry for help from a troubled girl or a scam by a clever grifter?

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