‘Disgusted’ mother Melissa Del Medico reacts to Adelaide cancer scam allegations

A recent story of an Adelaide couple who allegedly pulled an alleged ‘cancer scam’ shocked many, but for Melissa Del Medico it hit home even harder.

As a parent of a young child battling cancer, Melissa Del Medico said she was “disgusted” and “annoyed” when she read about the western suburbs parents who have been accused of scamming their community into believing their son had cancer.

“It’s not something that someone should be pretending about, childhood cancer is not something to pretend about,” Ms Del Medico said.

PJ Leyshon while undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Picture: Supplied by family

Police allege Michelle Bodzsar and Ben Miller raised $60,000 from an alleged fake “cancer scam”.

In a case police have described as “abhorrent” and “extremely traumatic,” it will be alleged the couple shaved their young son’s head and eyebrows and placed him into a wheelchair with bandages on his head to imitate radiotherapy treatment for cancer.

Ms Bodzsar and Mr Miller, both aged 44, have been charged with commit an act likely to cause harm and deception offences, and faced Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday.

Ms Bodzsar was remanded in custody until January while Mr Miller was remanded him in custody pending a home detention bail inquiry report next week.

Ms Del Medico has watched her three-year-old son PJ battle acute lymphoblastic leukaemia since March 2024 and knows all too well how difficult the experience can be mentally and financially.

After finding out about PJ’s diagnosis, Ms Del Medico and her partner, Troy Leyshon had to leave their jobs to care for him full time.

“We’re both now on Centrelink, and that’s our only source of income,” Ms Del Medico said.

“We almost lost our house. and even still, to this day, we struggle every single week.

“It just infuriates me so much,” she said of the allegations.

PJ Leyshon with his mum Melissa Del Medico and dad Troy Leyshon. Picture: Supplied by family

PJ Leyshon while undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Picture: Supplied by family

PJ is in his last two months of intense treatment before moving onto maintenance for two and a half to three years.

“The other day when I said to him, ‘only got five more days, baby, until you finish this, and then you can have your backpack off’, because he has the backpack on, which has his medication, and his response to me, which actually broke my heart, was ‘yay, then I can be a normal boy again’,” Ms Del Medico.

“So it’s just, it’s hard.”