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Rachael was diagnosed with cancer… a truly despicable response from conspiracy theorists has forced her to sleep with a knife under her pillow

Sydney mum puts end to hate campaign

Accused of faking cancer and charity fraud

READ MORE: Schoolgirl diagnosed with rare cancer weeks before graduating

By NICHOLAS WILSON, NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA

Published: 02:32 BST, 28 September 2025 | Updated: 02:57 BST, 28 September 2025

A citizen of the year has fought to clear her name after she was falsely accused of faking her cancer and siphoning money from a charity by online conspiracy theorists.

The witch hunt against Sydney northern beaches mum-of-three Rachael Jackson, 47, began on a popular Facebook group which has since been shut down by police and state MPs.

Members of the group framed Ms Jackson as the new Belle Gibson, the Victorian cancer and wellness scammer whose exploits inspired the 2025 Netflix series Apple Cider Vinegar.

Following months of harmful speculation and online abuse, Ms Jackson has released health records verifying her cancer diagnosis to the National News Network.

Ms Jackson said the campaign against her got so bad she became suicidal late last year and continues to sleep with a knife under her pillow.

She claimed she became a target after she began posting on Facebook community pages about the challenges she faced affording rent as a single mum in Sydney.

She also said an element of ‘tall poppy syndrome’ added to the hate, following her selection as the Northern Beaches Citizen of the Year in 2023.

‘It’s a wealthy community, and these people are wealthy people and they just piled on,’ Ms Jackson said.

Rachael Jackson (pictured) was falsely accused of faking cancer and siphoning charity donations in a vicious social media campaign

‘They wanted to run me off the beaches. At the end of last year, I was suicidal.

‘It was a witch hunt.’

Among the false claims circulated by the group were that Ms Jackson lied about being diagnosed with cancer and was at risk of losing her leg.

The 47-year-old has been forced to share medical records to prove the conspiracy theorists wrong.

Her cancer surgeon, Dr Anthony Glover, confirmed Ms Jackson suffered thyroid cancer which spread to her lymph nodes and caused vocal cord damage.

Her GP, Dr Frank Brennan, said she was afflicted by Tenosynovial Giant Cell Tumour, with benign tumours growing in her leg.

Dr Brennan confirmed Ms Jackson had undergone one of three required surgeries and that, worst case, it may require an amputation.

Members of the group also falsely accused her of siphoning money from GoFundMe fundraisers and using donations to pay for her four-bedroom rental home, holidays and private school fees.

Ms Jackson, who was crowned the Northern Beaches Citizen of the Year in 2023, claimed the hate was fuelled by a touch of ‘tall poppy syndrome’

Cancer-stricken influencer faces trolling from critics’ claiming she’s lying about her diagnosis

GoFundMe and a number of charities have since confirmed Ms Jackson did not have access to donations and could not have done so.

The campaign went beyond social media and culminated in criminal charges against two individuals for confronting her at her home and by phone.

Ms Jackson was followed in the street, to cafés and the chemist, with people taking photos and videos of the single mum in an effort to gather ‘evidence’ against her.

Spurred on by an escalation in the campaign, police told Ms Jackson to install security cameras at home and to avoid community events.

While the false accusations against Ms Jackson have been proven baseless, some of the damage wrought by the campaign may be irreversible.

‘I feel very cautious everywhere I go,’ Ms Jackson said.

‘I don’t know whether people are taking photos of me.

‘I feel very betrayed by my own community, because people have been gossiping about me and they have damaged my reputation.

Belle Gibson rose to prominence in 2012 as a self-proclaimed health guru who had ‘cured’ her own brain cancer through healthy eating, clean living and ‘positive thinking’

‘I’ve lost friends over it. People think there must be some truth to it, but there isn’t.’

Daily Mail contacted Ms Jackson for comment.

Gibson rose to prominence in 2012 as a self-proclaimed health guru who had ‘cured’ her own brain cancer through healthy eating, clean living and ‘positive thinking’.

Within a year, her inspirational Instagram account @healing_belle had amassed thousands of followers, many of them hopeful cancer sufferers, who would go on to download her wellness app, The Whole Pantry, and buy her cookbook of the same name.

Throughout it all, Gibson claimed her earnings – reportedly more than $1 million – would be donated to various cancer charities.

But there was just one big problem: Gibson never had cancer, and eventually her empire came crashing down after two Australian journalists discovered she had been lying about it all – not just her disease, but her philanthropy too.

Despite swindling millions, Gibson never faced any jail time.

After a drawn-out case in the Federal Court of Australia, she was ordered to pay AU$410,000 (US$257,000) for her false claims of charitable donations.

Combined with her legal fees, she faced a total payout of about half a million dollars (US$313,000).

Eight years on, she has not paid that fine.

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Rachael was diagnosed with cancer… a truly despicable response from conspiracy theorists has forced her to sleep with a knife under her pillow

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