Psyche logo

By Proxy

A Munchausen by proxy case

By Natalie C..Published 4 years ago 9 min read
Like

A young mother reported her son missing in June of 2001 and she never saw him again. She was walking to the park with her son in her arms. Loosening her arms to let him down and play. He was only two years old at the time, curious about everything and anything that was around him. His name was Liam Cooper, named after his grandfather. The young mother turned around to go get something from her bag and to sit down to watch her son play. That was the biggest regret that she has from that day. She turned back around and Liam was gone. She couldn’t find him anywhere. It was like he was never there, to begin with.

Down a bumpy dirt road and into the forest there is a house at the end being taken over by the greenery. It was as if the forest was a living creature slowly devouring it. It was only an old rickety cabin where a man lived. He was lonely and secluded from the everyday hustle and bustle of life. The man wasn’t old or young but just the right age to live life. When everyone else was getting married and moving on with their lives, he was living in the woods and living off the land.No one bothered to care about him nor even really notice he was there. So he lived his life in peace and quiet.

One afternoon the man came home and placed a box on the table. The box wasn’t closed but it seemed the have something moving inside. Slowly running his fingers through his early starting to grey hair. The man acted as if everything was normal ignoring the crying and screaming of a small human voice, coming from the box. Shrugging his jacket off as the cotton moves across his hands. The child didn’t stop crying forcing the man to take him out of the box. Soiled diaper and wet cheeks was presented to the man when he pulled out the child and placed it on the table. “I shall name you Authur, and you should calllll me….” his voice was a gravelly and deep as he hesitated to come what with an answer. “You should call me daddy.”

A little later on that night, a bath was drawn, the water just warm enough to bring warmth to your fingers. Arthur was placed in the bath as the man ventured off into the boy’s room. The room completely decorated and decked out with almost everything a two-year-old would love. He threw away the clothes the boy was wearing and started filing through the dresser for a dark blue onesie with brown and white dogs on them. After a few minutes of being in the bathroom alone, the boy eventually stopped crying and started to play in the water. Pulling out some toys that were in a basket on the side of the tub.

The man came back placing the onesie on the vanity, the boys lips a little blue. He pulled the boy out and dried him off getting him dressed for bed. “Arthur, what is my name?” The man asked him, in order to see what the boy would say. The little voice spoke up softly for the first time starting to form words, “my name is Liam.” The man got a little angry and put the boy in his room locking the door. “Your name is Arthur and you call me daddy.” The man walked away and into his room shutting the door.

The night was long and soundless except for the soft sniffles coming from the boy’s room. His world changed in the blink of an eye and he didn’t understand why. His mom was gone and all he wanted was for her to come back. The man didn’t understand what was wrong with the boy but there had to be something. Multiple medical issues running through the man’s head as the list of possibilities started to grow. “We shall visit the doctor tomorrow.”

A few years went on and the boy had gone through several surgeries that were unneeded and have been put on hundreds of medications. Even when there was nothing really wrong with the boy. The man told him he was sick, so he was sick. It didn’t matter what the truth was at that point in time. He grew up thinking he was as sick as can be and that he needed a lot of help. It didn’t matter how much he spoke up to the man he was told to call dad. Even if he was feeling healthy and good, to the man he wasn’t. He was a sick little boy that had one problem after another. One doctor after another was the life no one ever wants.

The boy was putting on a nighttime breathing machine when he was only three in order to “help him sleep”. The machine didn’t do anything except for making a train reaction of events that led to more problems. The boy only had problems sleeping because he missed his mom. His dad told him that he didn’t have a mom and that he was the only one important in his life. The sleeping machine led to headaches in the morning resulting to the diagnosis of daily migraines. The headaches were from lack of sleep even though the machine was supposed to help with that.

It was only a matter of time when Arthurs’ health started to decline according to the man. He told the boy that he could never speak up during doctor appointments. He was to just sit on his hands and let his dad do the talking. According to his dad, he was mentally incapable of doing simple human tasks. Like he was intellectually not there, not enough to go to school and get a proper education. Just verily able to talk and make simple choices for himself.

Years went by and the life he knew from the start was gone. He didn’t remember any of it, his mom wasn’t there in his memories anymore. The life he knew was full of his dad and multiple doctors. He had multiple diagnoses that ranged anywhere from autoimmune to muscle issues and problems walking. By the time Arthur was ten he was told to never walk again and that he can’t. The wheelchair having to accompany him everywhere like he had no more independence. Even though Arthur knew he could walk just fine, he couldn’t argue with the man. Whatever the man wanted the man got. He was told that when he sat in his chair that he shouldn’t move his legs when they were in public.

Every single doctor’s appointment Arthur sat back and listened to the man make up stories in order to make it seem to fit certain medical conditions. Some of them chronic and some of them not, but most of the time they were rare and unheard of by the regular doctor. If the doctor didn’t give him the answer that he wanted he would move on the next in order to get what he wanted.

The boy lost all of the nutrients he needed in order to gain strong muscle. That was because he was being fed through a feeding tube. His body slowly shrinking down from the loss of muscles being used on a daily basis. His body wasting away into skin and bones, the man tried his best but he didn’t know what else to do in order to help. The boy’s body was fighting the unneeded medication that he was forced to take on a daily basis. The man just watched and let it happen. His own thinking making it seem like he was helping Arthur when he was only hurting him more.

Arthur never had any friends his age so his dad always talked to him like he was a little kid. This caused Arthur to talk like he was a lot younger than he actually was. This allowed everyone to think that he was younger too. He took hormone stoppers so that he wouldn’t grow up into a young man like he was supposed to. The man wanted him to stay his small boy forever. He stayed a small boy for his age because he stopped growing because of the medication. Arthur didn’t really know any different, because it was the way he was brought up. He believed what he was told. He was raised to not ask questions but to just go along with what was said and told.

It wasn’t until after the man had passed away that Arthur found out that he was a healthy young man for the most part. He needed to have his system flushed and detoxed from all the medications he was forced to take all of his life. He was told he was only six years old not knowing how old he actually was. He might never know how old he is. The man kept that a secret and didn’t want to tell Arthur. He ended up growing up with some mental problems due to the leftover issues from the man who said he was his dad.

These things weren’t easier to overcome no matter how simple people say it was. Small things like relearning how to eat and walk were the hardest. He was fed through a feeding tube since he was five and he didn’t eat solid food. He forgot what the taste of real food was like and what it was like to stand on both feet without falling down.

The recovery was just the beginning of a long journey of the truth. He was learning how to be a normal person for the first time in his life. Arthur was the missing kid back in 2001, his name was Liam Cooper, but he will never know that since he doesn’t remember anything before he was taken. There was no one else there to take care of him or to show him what was true and not. He had himself and that was all he needed in order to discover his true self and figure out how to live life.

He grew up and moved out of the house selling it to the first person who wanted it. He wanted to be free and have a new life and that was the first step, in order to move on from the past. Arthur became a survivor of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Once Arthur was aware of that, he did his best to learn as much as he could about the syndrome. He then dedicated his life to helping kids get out of those situations and have a better life.

(Written in an hour and a half sorry if it isn’t the best it could be.)

disorder
Like

About the Creator

Natalie C..

I am a young writer who lets her creative flow through her writing. I tend to write on the darker side of topics because a lot of people don't. I have a darker imagination than most people.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.