Linda Moon, a 34-year-old U.K. resident, wanted to meet members of Preston North End, her favorite soccer team. So she decided to lie about having cancer, receiving hundreds of dollars worth of signed memorabilia from the team in the process.
According to the Daily Mail, Moon wrote a “bucket list” describing her wish to see her favorite soccer club win the Championship. She also described her wish to have a Preston-themed funeral, in which she would wear signed soccer memorabilia and all the funeral attendees would don Preston soccer jerseys.
Moon’s story touched the hearts of Preston fans, who organized a one-minute applause for her at a match. Her tale also reached former Preston players like Kevin Davies, who visited her in the hospital and gave her a signed jersey.
Earlier this week, however, Moon came forward to a local radio station after rumors spread on social media that she wasn’t suffering from cancer. “When my condition came out, it came out as cancer, and it all just spiraled out of control,” she told Rock FM.
Lost both my parents to cancer within 3 months of each other so it saddens me to hear how low people can stoop for their own gain
— Kevin Davies (@Kevin__Davies) June 2, 2015
I'm not easily shocked and love helping people but incidents like this makes it harder. There are lots of genuine people around however
— Kevin Davies (@Kevin__Davies) June 2, 2015
Thanks for all the messages and I know @pnefc are doing something to make sure genuine people will still be helped by a great club.
— Kevin Davies (@Kevin__Davies) June 2, 2015
What upsets me most is giving up my precious time and being deceived. Plus my daughter being upset when she met her. We live and learn
— Kevin Davies (@Kevin__Davies) June 2, 2015
Moon now finds herself loathed by people who have never even met her. To her credit, she completely understands why.
“All I can do is sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart—it’s not a nice thing to do to people. I have seen things that people have said about me, but I understand why they are saying it. I have hurt and upset a lot of people,” she said. “I would just like to say I am truly sorry for not saying it is not terminal cancer.”
Moon is planning to issue a formal apology to Preston North End.
H/T Daily Mail | Photo via faungg’s photos/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)