Mother 'gave cancer drugs to healthy daughter'

A four-year-old Australian girl is seriously ill in a Brisbane hospital after allegedly being poisoned with chemotherapy pills by her mother.

A 22-year-old woman from Queensland’s Gold Coast, was charged with grievous bodily harm and appeared in a Brisbane court yesterday.

The court has been told the child does not have cancer.

Police have accused the young mother of systematically poisoning her previously well daughter over a period of ten-months using chemotherapy medicine she purchased over the internet.

A Facebook page she set up detailing her daughter's illness had over 7000 followers and provided information about how people could donate cash and toys. On a separate website the woman had established a donations website to raise money.

She used Facebook to post images of her daughter and give updates on her battle against illness.

According to the Courier-Mail specialists had struggled to diagnose the mystery illness that was attacking her cells.

Her mother had kept followers updated with information on her progress in a series of emotional posts.

"I feel sick," she wrote in a post on 1 April.

"The doctor came in today and told me they are going to start looking for a bone marrow donor and we need to do this ASAP if [name withheld] doesn't start to get better.

"If nothing changes [name withheld] will be dead in six months without a transplant."

She wrote that her daughter first began showing symptoms in February last year when bruises appeared on her back, legs and arms.

In March of this year she wrote a post describing her experiences of an oncology ward and just hours before her arrest had posted a picture of her daughter on the Facebook page.

In a short court appearance on Monday a magistrate ordered the woman to be remanded in custody ahead of a further appearance on May 20.

According to reports the mother and daughter had been living in charity-run crisis accommodation in the Gold Coast.

A fellow resident told local media: "They're hardly ever here -- they're always in Brisbane getting treatment for the little girl, she (the mother) seemed lovely. I'm stunned."