A cruel mum’s addiction to sympathy after pretending her daughter had a terminal illness led to the tragic girl’s death – but she was caught only when she tried to do the same thing with another one of her daughters.
Kelly Renee Turner managed to convince even seasoned medics that Olivia Gant was ill, and soon the cash – as well as the attention – began to flood in to the scammer.
Poor Olivia was always seen smiling in pictures, but it masked the dreadful suffering she faced.
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By the time she died at the age of seven, she’d been forced to endure hundreds of tests, take strong drugs and go through needless life-changing operations, reports the Mirror.
The cruel story of deceit began in 2012 when Turner took Olivia, who was then 2, to a hospital in Colorado, suffering from severe constipation. She was sent home after being treated.
But then Turner told doctors that the youngster was finding it difficult to eat and struggling to digest her food properly. It resulted in medical care that would end up dominating Olivia’s life.
It meant she was forced to endure more than 1,000 hospital visits and have several operations. Her small intestine was rerouted through her large intestine, which took in food from a bag on her stomach.
The heartless mum then began insisting that Olivia was suffering from seizures, and she was put on strong medication.
And when Turner claimed that Olivia’s feeding tubes were no longer working, the girl was given an IV drip that left her so weak she was often bedridden and had to be pushed around in a wheelchair.
Turner also claimed her daughter was dealing with autism, developmental delays and fluid on the brain.
All the while, she was documenting Olivia’s “problems” online, and telling people how it was so expensive having to travel to find the best treatment.
She set up a GoFundMe page that saw the money roll in, and she raised the equivalent of nearly £20,000 from kind-hearted donors.
In 2017, Turner updated her supporters with the awful news Olivia’s condition was terminal. She told doctors that keeping Olivia alive was “unfair” because she had no quality of life – and she asked for her own daughter’s feeding tubes to be removed.
When the doctors refused her request, the cruel mother found a new doctor who was willing to sign a “do not resuscitate” order on Olivia.
And then she asked people to help the poor girl complete her bucket list.
The offers flooded in, and Olivia spent time with police and firrefighters, and enjoyed a huge Make-a-Wish party.
Turner’s web of lies worked even on medical professionals, and she eventually persuaded the doctors to withdraw all medical care.
Olivia was taken to a hospice, where she quickly became quieter. When she said she was hungry, juice was rubbed on her lips using a sponge.
Olivia died on August 20, 2017, with her cause of death being given as intestinal failure as a complication of her multiple medical conditions.
But the following year, Turner attempted the same thing again when she said one of her other daughters was suffering from bone pain – and it was probably a sign that her bone cancer had returned.
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This time, though, she didn’t manage to convince the doctors with her fantasies. They made inquiries but couldn’t find any previous cancer records, and the girl was later found to be perfectly well.
But it made the medics start to question Olivia’s “problems”.
Turner was charged with murder, child abuse, theft and fraud. She originally pleaded not guilty but this year, just before her trial was due to get under way, she made a plea deal.
She admitted felony child abuse that negligently caused death, plus theft and fraud, and the murder charge was dismissed.
In February, Turner, then 43, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for her crimes.
In a private lawsuit, the Colorado children’s hospital Colorado, where Olivia was treated for five years, settled for an undisclosed amount last year.
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