Mom jailed for drawing blood from son's chest weekly for five years - News24

A Danish woman has been sentenced to four years in jail for draining nearly half a litre of blood from her son’s chest for five years, so she could pretend he had a rare disease.

The 36-year-old, who was sentenced on Thursday but not identified, reportedly drew blood 110 times using a catheter when the boy was between one and six years old, Metro reports.

She allegedly told doctors her son had a low blood count because he suffered from a rare bone marrow disease.

The court in Henring, Western Denmark, heard doctors became suspicious of the boy’s low blood count and alerted Danish police, who then secretly filmed the single mom, USA Times reports.

After the court ordered a psychological evaluation it was found the woman suffered from factitious disorder, a disorder in which a person repeatedly and deliberately acts as if they have a physical or mental illness, according to WebMD.

“It wasn’t a decision I just made,” she told the court.

“I don’t know when I started doing something I didn’t have to. It happened gradually. I flushed the blood down the toilet and burnt the syringes in the bin.”

When asked why she did it, the woman said: “I wish I could answer you, but I can’t. I wish I could.”

The boy is reportedly healthy and living with his father, NY Post reports.

Sources: Metro, USA Times, NY Post

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