I was UK’s sickest child, allergic to food, hooked up to oxygen with 4 ops by six…shock truth emerged after mum’s arrest

EVERYONE thought she was the perfect mum – not least, Lisa Hayden-Johnson herself. She tirelessly devoted her life to her young son, Matthew – dubbed “Britain’s Sickest Child” – who was allergic to almost every food, fed through a tube and needed an oxygen tank, wheelchair and a cocktail of drugs for a string of illnesses including diabetes, cerebral palsy and cystic fibrosis. Lisa Hayden-Johnson poses with three-year-old Matthew in a plea for ‘life-saving equipment’ in 2004 Credit: TNA Matthew was hooked up to an oxygen tank and fed through a tube Credit: Pete Cuthbert With his cherubic looks, he won the nation’s hearts as he coped with his burden with a winsome smile. And everyone admired Lisa’s selfless nature. Their story featured in newspaper and magazine articles and they were invited onto TV, with Matthew receiving a prestigious bravery award from Queen Camilla, when she was the Duchess of Cornwall, and meeting then Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Lisa sought medical help 325 times for her son before he was six. He underwent nine general anaesthetics and had four invasive operations. But it was all a charade – and the only person making Matthew ill was his mother. Lisa was diagnosed with the rare condition Munchausen by Proxy (now known as Fabrication Induced Illness) – a form of abuse in which an individual, usually the mother, feigns, exaggerates or induces illness in her own child in order to gain attention and sympathy. In 2010, she was convicted of child cruelty and found herself being described in her local newspaper as “Britain’s most evil mother”. In an exclusive interview with The Sun, ahead of a new Channel 4 documentary, Matthew Johnson and sister Laura speak out for the first time on how their mother’s lies damaged their lives. “It does concern me that her actions could have killed me but then I also feel very blessed and lucky that I managed to move on and start anew and be just like any other fit and healthy person who can look after themselves,” says Matthew, now 25. “There’s nothing impairing me from having that life. “It took me a long time to properly understand what my mum had done because I was so young, but I think also I wanted to avoid the reality of what had happened. “I felt the more I understood it, the more it would take me away from having a mum. So, it wasn’t something I wanted to explore. I only really addressed that when I was older.” Remarkably, 16 years on, Lisa refuses to accept she did wrong and insists she was only doing the best for Matthew. Lisa talks on camera for the first time, since her release from prison, in the three-part documentary, Love You To Death, along with her two children, Matthew and Laura Johnson. “The only thing I was guilty of was putting my son first and fighting his battle. And I don’t regret that,” she says. Matthew was born prematurely in 2001 and had to remain in Torbay Hospital for six months before being welcomed into the family home in the seaside town of Brixham, Devon. Concerned that he was not “hitting his milestones”, Lisa took to focussing almost all her attention on him receiving the right medical help, while her husband, Christopher went to work. Matthew’s besotted two-year-old sister, Laura, was keen to help look after her little brother in any way she could. Matthew’s paediatrician, Dr Stella Imong, who worked at Torbay Hospital for many years, says: “Most premature babies recover very quickly, but not Matthew. He would be in and out of the ward all the time. He was almost a permanent resident. He had his own consultant, Dr John Broomhall.” Having told medics that she was a qualified nurse, the hospital agreed to let Lisa administer his oxygen and food at home and arranged weekly deliveries of various drugs to the house. Laura adored her little brother and was keen to help look after Matthew in any way she could Credit: Pete Cuthbert Matthew, pictured with dad Christopher, Laura and Lisa, received a Children of Courage Award Credit: Alamy “She could be quite demanding,” recalls Stella. “She knew exactly what she wanted for Matthew. A lot of people on the ward had concerns about her.” Suspicions grew as X-rays and tests for alleged swallowing problems showed nothing amiss. Irritated by what she saw as a lack of improvement, Lisa said she was taking Matthew to Great Ormond Street. “I never asked what was wrong with me, because I was so young,” says Matthew. “I only understood I was different to other children and I was under the assumption that everything was happening for a reason.” Matthew’s plight attracted the attention of the local newspaper and TV news who published stories about him having to drag an oxygen tank behind him on a trolley, regularly needed a wheelchair and how Lisa tirelessly liquidised his food and arranged his drugs. “It was weird because he wasn’t always using his wheelchair or the oxygen tank when we went out,” says Laura, now 27. Matthew was put forward for a Children of Courage Award, receiving his medal from Camilla at Westminster Abbey and having his picture taken outside 10 Downing Street with Tony Blair. At a dinner for the Children of Courage, the family was delighted to be sitting with Simon Cowell, who invited them all to watch a recording of The X Factor. Lisa, Christopher, Laura and Matthew were also invited onto the couch on GMTV. Here, Lisa told how Matthew couldn’t eat treats like chocolate and crisps and he was very good about it. Lisa Hayden-Johnson appearing at Exeter Crown Court Credit: Nick Irving Matthew appears in the Channel 4 documentary Love You To Death Credit: Channel 4 Laura was puzzled. “That wasn’t true, because at home we would have ice-cream and chocolate. Just normal things. I was so confused,” she says. Meanwhile, concerned medics went to the police with their concerns. Matthew’s medical records were handed over – three box loads. DS Steve Blair of Devon and Cornwall Police, together with a health professional and a social worker, found Lisa had been giving false readings of Matthew’s blood sugar levels for diabetes at home and lied to Torbay Hospital about advice Great Ormond Street had given her. When Dr Broomhall insisted that they take Matthew off medication, Lisa stormed out. Things were beginning to unravel. Lisa then sensationally claimed to have been raped by a motorcyclist – even cutting her own face. After police could find no evidence of an attack, she admitted to having made it up – even now attempting to justify her lies. “I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that it happened in my head and not in real life,” she said. In 2007 she was arrested on suspicion of harming Matthew. She was found to have lied about her medical qualification and a search of the house revealed box after box of unused medication which was still being ordered every week. A cupboard was full of glucose powder that police believe she added to Matthew’s urine samples to trick doctors into believing he had diabetes. The children pictured with Lisa and Christopher, who had no idea of the deception Credit: TNA Lisa with baby Matthew, who was premature Credit: Laura Johnson There were also family pictures of days out and a free cruise – with Matthew happily playing and tucking into a roast dinner, burgers and orange squash. It is estimated that the various benefits she claimed for Matthew made her £200,000. On questioning, it became evident that Christopher was in the dark about what had been going on and believed Lisa was doing the best she could for their ‘sick’ son. Following Lisa’s arrest, Matthew was moved into temporary foster care. He was gradually taken off all medication and began to eat and breathe like any other healthy child. “She had constrained his life so much that it was equivalent, really, to physical abuse,” says Stella. “With Matthew in care, it was just me and dad for a while,” says Laura. “The social worker explained to us that mum had hurt Matthew. I remember being angry at them. But then they started explaining that Matthew wasn’t ill and it was all a lie. “My dad was so heartbroken. It wasn’t until she actually got arrested that I ever heard my dad speaking negatively about her. He would say things like, ‘She’s ruined your lives,’ ‘She nearly killed your brother.’ That was a shock because I had grown up witnessing such amazing love between them. Now it was hate.” Christopher and his two children moved away from the area and settled in Sheffield. And although it was a welcome fresh start for Matthew, Laura missed her friends and felt like she didn’t fit in. Laura suffered as a child because of her mum’s treatment of Matthew Credit: Channel 4 Lisa was dubbed Britain’s Most Evil Mum Credit: Channel 4 Matthew is speaking out for the first time Credit: Channel 4 Matthew led a normal life after he was taken away from his mum Credit: Pete Cuthbert “Sometimes I feel like my life started when I moved to Sheffield,” says Matthew. “Although I was struggling with the loss of my mum being around, it felt like a new life. I could do things. It was nice to have a fresh slate and just be like a normal kid.” At her trial, Lisa, then 35, pleaded guilty and was given a three-year and three-month sentence for child cruelty and perverting the course of justice between 2001 and 2007. She was released in 2011, having served 19 months. Now, she says she pled guilty just so that people would leave her alone and that she did no wrong. When she came out of prison, she requested to see her children and they met up with her for an hour, with a social worker, despite Christopher wanting to break all contact with her. “I must have been 11 or 12 and I ran into her arms and gave her a hug,” Matthew remembers. “I just wanted to see my mum again and I felt that way for quite a few years afterwards.” More meetings followed then, when Laura was 16, and feeling in need of a more permanent mum in her life, she moved back in with her for a time. “Life was amazing with her at first,” she says. “I was just so grateful to have her in my life. I wasn’t thinking too much about what she had done in the past.” But, to her alarm, her mum then became unwell and Laura found herself having to push her around in a wheelchair. “It was like I was her carer,” she says. “She also had what I called blips, where she regressed into a five-year old, watching Peppa Pig and self-harming herself, before snapping out of it, seemingly unaware of what she was doing. “When I moved out, all her blipping magically disappeared and she no longer needed a wheelchair.” Matthew and Laura have now cut all ties with their mother. “Her mindset hasn’t shifted in the two decades that have passed,” says Matthew. “She still thinks she never did anything wrong. She clearly has no remorse or understanding of what she’s done.” “I have mixed emotions about her now – part anger, part sympathy,” says Laura. “I sympathise that she’s very clearly got something going on mentally but I still feel angry that she could do those things. I think that at some point you have to take accountability for what you have done. But she isn’t going to and it would be too damaging to us both if we were to build a relationship again only to see it break once more.” Today, Laura, lives happily with her partner of seven years and works in childcare. “It’s something I’m really passionate about and I think I can benefit it in being able to spot signs a bit easier,” she smiles. Matthew is also happy and contented. “I have a job in admin and I live on my own in a house in Chesterfield, so I’m not too far from Sheffield where we moved,” he says. “I’ve got a great circle of friends that have been really supportive, as well as family members, so we’re both definitely in a good place.” “I’ve accepted that my mum is who she he and isn’t going to be able to change. I forgive her for what she’s done. I don’t wish her any ill health, and I just hope that she can live the rest of her life in peace as much as we both deserve to.” Love You To Death, Channel 4, Wednesday 19 August