Honestly, the Belle Gibson story is one of those things that gets weirder and more upsetting the deeper you dig. We all know the basics—the "wellness guru" who claimed she cured her terminal brain cancer with kale juice and positive vibes, only for the world to find out she never had cancer at all. But if you’ve been watching the Netflix series Apple Cider Vinegar lately, there’s one name that keeps coming up in the "search" bars of anyone with a conscience: Joshua Schwartz.
In the show, there’s a character named Hunter Cross. He’s a little boy with a brain tumor, and his story is used to show just how far Belle’s deception went. But Hunter isn't just a plot device. He’s based on a real person, a real little boy named Joshua Schwartz, and what Belle did to him and his family is, quite frankly, the darkest part of this entire saga.
Who Was Joshua Schwartz?
Joshua was just five years old when his parents, Penne and Wolfgang Schwarz, got the news every parent dreads. He was diagnosed with a rare, inoperable, and untreatable brain tumor. We're talking about a situation where there was no "alternative" or "holistic" miracle on the table—just a family trying to make the most of the time they had left.
Belle Gibson didn't just stumble upon them. She sought them out.
She friended the family. She set up playdates between her son and Joshua. She basically embedded herself in their lives at their most vulnerable moment. To the Schwarzes, she was an inspiration—a "survivor" who had beaten the same kind of monster that was taking their son.
But for Belle? Joshua was "content."
She started posting about him constantly on social media. She called him the "second little man after my own heart." She even mentioned him in the acknowledgments of her famous cookbook, The Whole Pantry. But she didn't just use his face for likes; she used his tragedy to drive sales.
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The Donation That Never Happened
This is where it gets legally messy and morally bankrupt. In December 2013, Belle announced a massive "fundraising week." She told her hundreds of thousands of followers that 100% of the proceeds from her app sales that week would go directly to the Schwartz family to help with Joshua’s treatment costs.
People bought the app in droves. They thought they were helping a dying boy.
The reality? The Schwartz family didn't get a cent.
They didn't even know she was supposedly raising money for them until much later. While Belle was jet-setting and building her "empire," the Schwarzes were struggling so much that they eventually had to sell their family home just to cover the medical expenses and care for Joshua.
When the Federal Court of Australia finally came for Belle in 2017, the judge, Debbie Mortimer, didn't mince words. Out of all the lies Belle told—the fake seizures, the "dying on the operating table" three times—the judge singled out her treatment of Joshua Schwartz as the most "unconscionable" part of her conduct.
Belle was fined $410,000. To this day, the Schwartz family is still waiting for their portion of that money.
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Fact vs. Fiction: What the Netflix Series Changed
Look, Apple Cider Vinegar is a "true-ish" story, which is a fancy way of saying they took some liberties. If you've seen the show, you might notice a few things about "Hunter" that don't match up with the real Joshua.
For one, Joshua’s sister, Jade, recently spoke out because she was "saddened" by how the show portrayed him. In the series, the boy loses his hair and looks like a stereotypical "sick kid." In real life, Joshua never had chemotherapy because it wasn't an option for his specific tumor. Jade remembered him as having "gorgeous curls" and looking like a "picture of health" for most of his journey.
There's also a plot point in the show about a fictional foundation and an experimental surgery. In reality, there was no secret surgery planned. Joshua fought for four years—way longer than the few months doctors originally gave him—but he passed away in January 2017 at the age of nine.
The most jarring difference, though, is the aftermath. In the show, the family is accused of being "in on it" with Belle. While the real-life Schwartz family did face some horrific trolling from people who thought the whole thing was a scam, they were never Belle's partners. They were her victims.
Why We Still Talk About This
It’s easy to dismiss Belle Gibson as just another "internet liar," but the Joshua Schwartz Belle Gibson connection shows why this matters. It wasn't just about "misleading consumers." It was about a woman who used the actual, physical symptoms of a dying child to "research" her own fake illness.
Think about that for a second.
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Belle would ask Penne about Joshua’s symptoms—the headaches, the way he moved, the specific pains—and then she would turn around and post those same symptoms as her own. She was literally "crowdsourcing" a terminal illness from a five-year-old so she could look more convincing to her followers.
It’s a level of exploitation that’s hard to wrap your head around.
What You Can Do Now
If you’re feeling a bit heavy after reading all that, you’re not alone. The story of Joshua Schwartz is a reminder that behind every "scam" headline are real people who didn't get a "happily ever after."
If you want to honor Joshua's memory in a way that actually helps, his family has asked people to support Very Special Kids. It’s a Victorian charity that provides holistic palliative care for children and supported the Schwarzes during Joshua’s final year.
Unlike Belle's "donations," money sent there actually goes toward helping families who are going through the exact nightmare Belle used to get famous.
Next Steps for Readers:
- Verify before you donate: If a social media influencer is raising money, look for a registered charity number or a direct link to the organization.
- Support the real victims: Consider a donation to Very Special Kids in Joshua’s name.
- Stay skeptical of "miracle cures": If someone claims to have cured a terminal illness through diet alone, ask for peer-reviewed evidence, not just a pretty Instagram feed.
The legacy of Joshua Schwartz isn't the scam that tried to consume him; it’s the light and warmth his family still remembers. Belle Gibson might have taken the headlines, but Joshua is the one worth remembering.