Mary Pintea – News Editor

Mvp5879@psu.edu 

Madison Russo, a 19-year-old woman from Bettendorf, IA, used her social media to spread awareness about her battle with cancer—which she never had. 

Russo raised approximately $40,000 on GoFundMe, a popular crowd-funding platform centered on individual donors. A total of 439 people donated to Russo’s campaign, in which she stated she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Stage 2 pancreatic cancer, and a spinal tumor the “size of a football.” 

Police told media that witnesses with experience pointed out significant discrepancies in Russo’s content, prompting an investigation into her credibility. A subpoena for Russo’s medical records found that she had never been diagnosed with cancer by any medical facilities in the Quad Cities, or surrounding cities. 

Russo was arrested on Jan. 23 on charges of theft. 

In addition to her GoFundMe campaign, Russo accepted donations from other businesses, non-profits, school districts, and private citizens. Since her arrest, GoFundMe has banned Russo from the platform and is working on refunding all donors. 

In a press release, the company stated, “GoFundMe has a zero-tolerance policy for misuse of our platform and cooperates with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing,” said the organization in an emailed statement. “All donors have been refunded, and we have removed this fundraiser. The beneficiary has also been banned from using the platform for any future fundraisers. GoFundMe’s Giving Guarantee offers a full refund in the rare case when something isn’t right; this is the first and only donor protection guarantee in the crowdfunding industry.”

Russo was considerably outspoken on her alleged battle with cancer, conducting interviews with local press and sharing her story across social media—most notably, she was a guest speaker at St. Ambrose University and the National Pancreatic Foundation in Chicago. 

In an interview with the North Scott Press, Russo shared, “I feel like I’ve been rocked to my soul, and right now, everything is kind of uncertain. I just want to know my game plan, and right now, I don’t know what that is,” claiming that she was given an eleven percent chance of survival. “At 19 years old, I don’t know if I will live to see the day I graduate from college, get married, or become a mom. In the meantime, I will fight.” 

She also told reporters that she had undergone the first 15 rounds of oral chemotherapy and 90 rounds of radiation—a shockingly high number of rounds, especially for Stage 2. Russo claimed that she would alternate her chemotherapy and radiation regimens week-to-week, which is highly unlikely for a cancer patient. 

Russo made a point to boast about her grades, telling reporters that she was able to secure her “dream internship” at John Deere and end the semester with a 3.85-grade point average. She even went as far as to claim to have gone to the Mayo Clinic, one of the top facilities for cancer treatments. 

Police executed a search warrant at Russo’s apartment in Bettendorf, “where officers did find items of evidentiary value,” he said in the statement. “Because this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot discuss what was found.” According to court documents obtained by KWQC, investigators collected medical supplies, bank records, an IV pole, a feeding pump, a wig, money, pills for nausea that were prescribed under a relative’s name, and a 2023 Kia Sportage.

Despite her malicious behavior, some donors remain sympathetic to her case. “My thinking is, say a prayer for this young kid, because she’s going to have a lot of terrible consequences as a result of this,” Louis Frillman, who donated $500 to the GoFundMe, told WQAD. He said that when he received his refund, he believed she had passed away. 

The beneficiary for the campaign, Thomas Bouland, has been banned from GoFundMe. He later bailed Russo out of jail. It is unclear how the pair know each other. 

Russo will return to court on March 2, 2023.