Stapleford woman finds out mum lied about illnesses for 30 years

A woman whose mother lied about being ill for 30 years has been reliving what it was like growing up with her.

Helen Naylor, 38, of Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, said her mum claimed she had Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) throughout her childhood.

When Elinor Page was diagnosed with Parkinson's years later, and a nurse said she was lying about it, Mrs Naylor soon realised the ME was made up too.

After she died in 2016, her diaries confirmed she had faked the illnesses.

Mrs Naylor said it was "a complete shock" to read her mother's 55 years of diaries.

She said they revealed everything Mrs Page had told her daughter about her life was false, including details about how she met Mrs Naylor's father, and also showed she abused her when she was a child.

For example, a broken arm she sustained in her mother's care went untreated, and when she was six months old she was left alone in a hotel room every night for hours on holiday.

Mrs Naylor has written a memoir about her experience, which was released on 25 November, and is attending a book signing at the University of Nottingham on Saturday.

The mother-of-two said the ME "absolutely wrecked" her childhood.

She said her father had a heart condition so "I grew up a child with disabled parents" and she would occupy herself "every afternoon and every weekend".

"I thought my parents were great people who looked after me the best they could," she said.

In fact, the diaries revealed Mrs Page would go on day trips and out with friends, but told her daughter she had been in bed all day.

Mrs Naylor said looking back there were signs that she was lying.

For example, when they went on holiday to the US when Mrs Naylor was 16 her mother walked for miles, but used a wheelchair when they were back home.

From 2011 to 2016, when Mrs Naylor started to realised her mum had been faking illness, she said Mrs Page admitted she had lied about being unwell, but an hour later she denied saying that.

Mrs Naylor said she now believed her mother had a personality disorder, with one of the symptoms being Munchausen's syndrome, where people make up or cause illness.

She said the book "My Mother, Munchausen's and Me" was originally written so she would not forget exactly what had happened and "almost try to work out who" her mother was.

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