TikToker under police investigation claimed her kidney disease was cured by God

A TikTok influencer – under police investigation for allegedly drugging her child to cause a mysterious illness – previously claimed her own kidney disease was healed by God.

The influencer cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, who has been removed from her custody.

A Sunshine Coast TikTok influencer under police investigation for allegedly drugging her child to cause a serious illness had previously claimed her own life-threatening kidney disease was healed by God.

The woman was reported to police after hospital staff responsible for treating her child’s mysterious medical condition raised the alarm, fearing it was a possible case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder in which a caregiver allegedly deliberately harms a child and presents them as sick.

After police launched the investigation, the toddler was removed from the mother’s custody and the influencer has been blocked from withdrawing money from an online fundraising appeal set up to pay for the child’s medical treatment.

The Australian cannot legally name the woman to protect the identity of her child.

Five years ago, the same woman was filmed telling a church congregation on the Sunshine Coast that her stage 5 chronic kidney disease – which she said had to be treated by thrice-weekly dialysis and would require a future kidney transplant – had been dramatically improved “through the healing power of God”.

“Something amazing happened. (The pastor) was asked to pray for someone … with kidney pains … and specifically someone on dialysis and in need of a kidney transplant,” she said on a now-­deleted video shared on the church’s social media.

“I was a little nervous about being on stage, but in that moment, as (the pastor) prayed, I could feel the presence of God working inside me. The next day I went straight to the doctors to get tested, and was tested again at hospital the next night, and my kidney function had raised from 7 per cent to 33 per cent.”

“To this day, it’s slowly getting better and better each time, and I strongly believe that through the healing power of God I will not need to get a kidney transplant.”

A spokesman for the church told The Australian that because the woman in the video had “not been connected to our church for many years, we believe it would be inappropriate for us to comment on events or circumstances that have developed since the end of their connection with us”.

The Sunshine Coast influencer kept her followers up-to-date about her child’s mystery illnesses and surgeries. Picture: iStock

The woman regularly posted on TikTok and Instagram about her child’s serious illness, including that the baby had needed major surgeries.

In one now-deleted clip, the influencer told her followers that she had strongly advocated for her child to force medical authorities to act. “I have been advocating for (my child) for about five, six months, prior to (their) diagnosis, saying I thought that there was something wrong with my child and I was just palmed off,” the woman said.

“We could have found out about this a lot earlier and started treatment. Even though there is no cure for (the) disease, at least there is a treatment.”

She said she wanted to share the “signs and symptoms” exhibited by her baby before the child’s diagnosis in the hopes it “could help someone”.

The woman said the experience of her child’s illness had been “so traumatic” and overwhelming. “Honestly, I am still healing, I am struggling every day,” she said.

In other videos previously posted to her social media accounts, the woman showed her followers gifts – such as soft toys and jewellery – online businesses had sent for her sick child.

An online fundraising appeal set up by the woman’s family to pay for the child’s medical expenses has been halted.

The fundraising organisation told The Australian that no more donations or withdrawals could be made while the allegations were being investigated.

“Our trust and safety specialists are investigating the accu­sations made as part of our standard due diligence process. This includes co-operating with police investigations,” the organisation’s spokeswoman said.

She said the money would be refunded to donors “in the rare case that something is not right”.

Premier David Crisafulli described the allegations as “horrific” and Police Minister Dan Purdie said expert detectives from the Morningside child protection investigation unit were investigating. No charges have been laid and the police investigation is expected to take months.