Dr. Phil Confronts Woman Who Lied About Having Muscular Dystrophy, Breast Cancer

In Friday’s episode of Dr. Phil, Phil McGraw confronted a woman who lied about having terminal cancer, muscular dystrophy and other conditions to take advantage of her friends.

The woman, only identified as Sarah in the episode, even went to a camp for adults with disabilities in a wheelchair, claiming she had muscular dystrophy and could not walk. Once there, she met and befriended Bethany, who became Sarah’s caregiver for the week-long camp.

“The camp is really focused on accepting any disability to be able to come and experience an outdoor lifestyle,” Bethany said in a clip published by The Daily Mail. “As her caregiver, it was really rewarding to allow her to have those experiences and to see the smiles on her face.”

Bethany helped Sarah enjoy the activities, which aimed to help the disabled have fun outdoors. However, Bethany said Sarah’s demands sometimes went beyond the expected, even asking Bethany to change her feminine hygiene products several times a day.

After the camp wrapped up, Sarah and Bethany remained friends. But the holes in her lie began to grow when her parents learned she was attending the camp again. Sarah told her parents she was going as a volunteer, but they knew she was lying based on other incidents.

“When I heard the news that Sarah was faking her disability, there was just tons of anger, and almost rage that I’d never experienced before. I absolutely felt betrayed,” Bethany added.

In another case, Florida couple Liz and Brian said Sarah lied to them at a charity cycling event, where she said she had terminal breast cancer. The couple soon became Sarah’s friends, inviting her to their home and on boat trips. To keep that deception going, Sarah created a fake Facebook page where she wrote about the cancer battle and claimed she had a husband named James and a daughter.

Sarah even sent messages to Liz and Brian as “James,” claiming the fake husband could not visit them in Florida because he had a stalker. Sarah told Liz the stalker was harassing her every day.

That deception fell apart when Sarah tried to connect with Liz after hearing one of Liz’s friends was fatally shot by claiming the stalker was following her with a gun. Sarah claimed there was a shootout, with the stalker injuring seven people. However, Liz and Brian realized the shootout was never reported on the news and it never happened.

“I have a lying addiction,” Sarah told McGraw. “The last eight years, I’ve done all kinds of extreme measures to make my life seem more exciting.”

In the second part of McGraw’s segment with Sarah, she will meet Bethany, Liz and Brian for the first time since they figured out she lied to them.

The next Dr. Phil episode on Sarah will air Monday. You can find out which network Dr. Phil airs on in your area at DrPhil.com.

Photo credit: Dr. Phil