Bowen went so far as to share posts to social media with her son after treatment, alleging he had cancer. She created crowdfunding pages as well. Photo / Facebook
Bowen went so far as to share posts to social media with her son after treatment, alleging he had cancer. She created crowdfunding pages as well. Photo / Facebook
A woman was arrested for felony injury to a child after she admitted to convincing doctors her son was severely ill, leading to numerous unneeded medical operations.
Texas mother Kaylene Bowen, 34, took her son Christopher, now eight, on 323 hospital visits since his birth, and lied to doctors that he had a milk allergy and needed a lung transplant due to the severe side effects.
According to her Facebook page, Bowen also publicly broadcasted her son's "terminal cancer".
Christopher has had 13 major surgeries for the alleged ailments, prosecutors said, many of which took place at the Children's Medical Center of Dallas, the MailOnline reported.
Bowen even went so far as to start crowdfunding pages to aid in his medical treatments and operations.
She continually concocted the stories to doctors, who became suspicious two years ago, and contacted Child Protective Services, according to NBC Dallas Fort-Worth. It was confirmed Christopher was not actually sick.
Kaylene Bowen, (pictured) told doctors her son had a severe milk allergy and needed a lung transplant due to the side effects. She also concocted stories about several other ailments. Photo / Facebook
It seems Bowen told doctors during visits that her son would violently 'throw up' every time he drank milk, Christopher's father, Ryan Crawford, told the news station.
"She started explaining to the judge that the doctors stated my son would never walk," Crawford said.
"And then she stated that he had problems continuing to eat and that he's going to need a feeding tube.'"
The now-separated couple started dating in 2009 when Bowen found out she was pregnant.
"I was at a club and she seemed like a nice woman. She was pleasant, pretty. She just caught my eye," he said of Bowen.
Now, Crawford said he is worried that, rather than his son, Bowen may actually be the one with the medical condition.
He's convinced she suffers a condition called Munchhausen by Proxy, or MSBP.
MSBP is a "mental health problem in which a caregiver makes up or causes an illness or injury in a person under his or her care" which is often times a child, according to WebMD.
"Just so many surgeries that are just unbelievable," Crawford said. "He could have died"
The behaviour may stem from "poor self-esteem, stress, anxiety" or a need for attention, the medical website said.
"It started eight days after he was born," Crawford said of Bowen's extreme behaviour.
"The issues escalated to eventually she claimed that my son was dying.
"I was horrified because from what I knew, my son was fine. He just needed - not even extra care - he was fine," the dad added.
