‘You don’t mess with a cancer family’: Mum’s anger after alleged broken promise by influencer Samuel Weidenhofer

A mum claims a social media personality has broken a promise of paying for a Gold Coast holiday for her 12-year-old son who is battling cancer.

A Melbourne mum has taken aim at social media personality Samuel Weidenhofer, after he allegedly failed to fulfil a promise to take her and her sick son on a holiday to the Gold Coast.

Mother-of-one Le-Anne Hood met the video creator who is known for doing good deeds, while dining at a cafe with some friends recently.

It’s understood Mr Weidenhofer took interest in the family when he learned about Ms Hood’s son Tommy and his battle with cancer.

The 12-year-old boy was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoma in September 2021 after doctors found a large tumour in his chest.

Doctors found a large tumour in Tommy's chest in September 2021.

He has since undergone countless blood transfusions and several rounds of chemotherapy, and continues to receive treatment today.

Upon hearing about Tommy’s story, Ms Hood alleges Mr Weidenhofer said he would take the pair on a much-needed holiday if they agreed to feature in one of his videos.

“I had an idea where I ask you guys for an act of kindness in a shopping mall, and once you give (some money) I’ll ask why?” Mr Weidenhofer pitched to Ms Hood in a text sighted by the Herald Sun.

“I’ll then give you the option of a dream 24/48 hour (holiday) – we can fly Tommy to the Gold Coast … or $500.”

“From here I’ll open up a fundraiser.”

Social media personality Samuel Weidenhofer.

After some consideration, Ms Hood agreed as she trusted the video creator would fulfil his promise, especially because she had seen so many other families receive his support online.

The pair participated in a video where Tommy was seen gifting senior shoppers with $50 notes to pay for their shopping. The clip received more than 400,000 views on both Instagram and TikTok.

Due to their participation, Mr Weidenhofer set up a GoFundMe page for Ms Hood and her son and also took the pair to an ice hockey game.

“I kept trusting him and he said he wanted to do a thing where he would fundraise money for a 48 hour trip to the gold coast,” Ms Hood said.

Le-Anne Hood with her son Tommy and Samuel Weidenhofer.

“I saw him in Bourke St. He was raising money on a live feed to make Tommy’s dreams come true to go to the gold coast.”

Ms Hood said at least $2000 was raised for the trip from Mr Weidenhofer’s live feed, which got her excited.

“I bought Tommy board shorts and goggles and hid them in a suitcase so I could surprise him,” she said.

However as the time came around to go on the holiday, Ms Hood said she stopped receiving messages from Mr Weidenhofer and he allegedly ignored her texts.

“You don’t mess with a cancer family, you’re dealing with families that are fragile and he has no idea about grief,” she said.

“I feel sick to my stomach. My gut feeling was right but I just kept hoping Sam was going to get us the support he plagued me with.”

Tommy, 12, at an ice hockey game.

However, Mr Weidenhofer insists he’s done nothing wrong and told the Herald Sun the whole situation was a misunderstanding.

The video creator said he is currently in Hawaii, and the money he raised in the livestream fundraiser was to be given to the Lahaina community to rebuild following the devastating fires.

“I never made money through a TikTok video. I was livestreaming to fundraise to give money out in Lahaina and said we might also be taking someone interstate to the theme parks,” he said.

“However an amazing ice hockey opportunity was brought up and I asked (Tommy and his mum) if they’d like to do that instead, which is what they chose.”

Mr Weidenhofer did create a GoFundMe for Tommy following the video which raised $2096 to help Ms Hood get back onto her feet and pay off some of her son’s medical bills.

However this has since been taken down and replaced with Ms Hood’s own fundraiser to help her son strive in his battle against cancer.

“(Tommy’s) a very good boy and compassionate young man because he’s had to endure chemo and multiple therapies, and I can either let it go but I can’t because of him,” she said.

Instead, Ms Hood wanted to share her story to raise awareness so other people who are in desperate situations are more cautious when accepting help from others.

“(Mr Weidenhofer) tapped into my grief for hope and I truly thought this was going to happen, both the Queensland trip and being able to recover,” she said.