Parents of a five-year-old cancer patient have accused Facebook users of stealing photos of their son for a fake fundraising cause.
Oscar Saxelby-Lee has an aggressive form of leukaemia and parents Olivia Saxelby, 26, and Jamie Lee, 23, have appealed to the public to find a stem cell donor.
The community also stepped in after the family needed to raise £500,000 needed to send Oscar to Singapore for treatment not available on the NHS.
Earlier this month, Oscar’s mum and dad shared their joy after being told the disease had gone.
But now they have alleged Facebook users are using pictures of Oscar in hospital taken from Facebook to “falsely fundraise” for a five-year-old boy called Arthur.
Olivia urged members of Oscar’s Facebook group to report any accounts using Oscar’s pictures, and said she was considering making the group private.
Olivia posted on the Hand In Hand For Oscar page: “Now this is making me SICK!
“Please, please! This is absolutely disgusting! Whoever you are, STOP!
“Please report! It’s too hard to watch.
“Our emotions are sky high and we are completely beside ourselves what with everything going on and these fake profiles that are not only impersonating Oscar and myself, but now claiming his story to be theirs.
“They are falsely trying to fundraise and it is totally unacceptable.
“Below I have linked what we have seen so far, please can you all continue to report and keep a vigilant eye out.
“There is often three dots in the top right hand corner, or a report button.
“I am reluctant to making this a closed group but if it carries on it leaves me no choice.
“I trust you all, and I’m aware this is created most likely out of the UK but it’s ever so worrying and it cannot go on.
“Thank you again, you wonderful lot! You truly are all incredible people.”
She posted screenshots of posts which she says are using Oscar’s story and photos to raise money from the public.
In one, an account named Jessy Campos wrote on December 24: “This is my godson Arthur.
“He has a rare leukaemia and is in need of expensive medication and his parents are unable to buy it and is currently missing on the public network.
“Would you like to help them with value I would need to buy the medication until Christmas.”
An account named Rosane Assmann, who appears to be based in Brazil, also posted using pictures Olivia claimed were of Oscar.
An English translation of her post read: “Arthur again surprised everyone with his courage when he went through a 40-minute MRI without sedation!!!
“With every sedation, there are risks, so we try to encourage him to pass as much as possible without.
“They down the head and his body was inserted in a huge donut.
“The loud noises started and he went crazy!
“After a little affection and some tranquility, he completely calmed down!!!”
Oscar was given a “life of death” three month race against time to find a stem-cell match after his aggressive form of leukaemia worsened.
More than 10,000 people responded when a plea went out for potential stem cell donors – of which 5,000 of those queued in the rain to be tested.
After a match was found, it was hoped to be the first step to curing Oscar, who had rare T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
But parents Olivia Jamie Lee were left devastated when they discovered the disease had returned despite Oscar’s stem cell transplant last spring.
They suffered further heartache when they were told the NHS would not fund a second transplant or a potentially new cell therapy treatment.
The desperate couple launched a fundraising drive to raise £500,000 needed to send Oscar to Singapore for the CAR-T trial.
The campaign became the fastest online charity appeal ever and reached its target in three weeks in October.
The youngster flew to Singapore over Christmas to have CAR-T cell therapy and a second bone marrow transplant in a bid to save his life.
Earlier this month, his delighted parents revealed they had been told Oscar was MRD negative – meaning there is no sign of the disease following treatment.