A Scottish teacher, who convinced an entire primary school that she had passed away from cancer, is still privately teaching children.
Teachers and students were left grieving after they became victims of Lara Simpson’s elaborate cancer hoax, which even included a fake amputation and a fictitious funeral.
Colleagues were left outraged when they recently discovered that Lara was still alive and thriving.
Highlights
- Lara Simpson convinced an entire primary school that she had cancer and passed away.
- She shaved her head and would show up to school in a wheelchair to maintain her web of lies.
- Her elaborate hoax included a fake amputation and a fictitious funeral as well.
A Scottish teacher convinced an entire primary school that she had cancer and passed away
Image credits: _larasimpson
Lara Simpson executed her fake cancer scheme at a primary school in the Scottish city of Dundee.
She was doing a placement at the school and was weeks from achieving a first-class degree in primary education from Dundee University when she began the deception in May, 2021.
The 26-year-old began lying to the school’s staff and students that she was diagnosed with leukaemia.
Image credits: Thurso parkrun
After she claimed she was starting chemotherapy, her lies escalated at a remarkable pace.
As part of the hoax, Lara shaved her head and wore a wig to match her story of undergoing cancer treatment.
She would sometimes vanish for days, claiming to the school staff that she was in intensive care.
There were also times where she pretended to be her mother and shared “health updates” about the treatment.
Lara Simpson claimed she was diagnosed with leukemia and spun a web of lies
Image credits: ariyenrahul8 / freepik (not the actual photo)
The deceit intensified when she claimed the cancer had spread and she needed to have one leg amputated.
She would show up to school with crutches, a wheelchair, and breathing tubes, and told the staff and students that she had a prosthetic leg.
It wasn’t long before people at the school became emotionally invested in her fake cancer battle.
Image credits: Lara Simpson
On one occasion, the school staff and pupils were convinced she was traveling in an air ambulance and waved at it.
Teachers and students would drop off presents at a hospice they believed Lara was receiving care from, and they even watched the emotional videos she shared, one of which was titled “I miss my life.”
The web of lies snowballed by early 2022, when Lara told her colleagues that the cancer was incurable.
She falsely claimed she had only six months to live as per doctors’ predictions.
After claiming she had only six months to live, the 26-year-old invited her colleagues to her wedding
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
During what she claimed were her “final months,” Lara told her students that she wanted to get married.
She invited fellow teachers to her fake wedding and gifted a bridesmaid dress to one student in her class.
Image credits: Thurso parkrun
The fabricated cancer battle came to an end when Lara faked her own passing.
She posed as her aunt and provided an address where mourning colleagues could send gifts and tributes for her fictitious funeral.
What the school didn’t know was that Lara had moved back to her home town of Thurso in Caithness.
She went on to join a local Parkrun, a global charity that organizes community outdoor events.
A former colleague recognized Lara in a social media photo
Image credits: Bryan Newlands
When Lara appeared in one of Parkrun’s social media photos, one of her former colleagues recognized her and informed the General Teaching Council of Scotland.
“Someone recognised her at the Parkrun, but thought ‘surely not’, as she was meant to have one leg, not two, and was meant to be d**d,” a source said.
GTCS found that the woman engaged in “chronic and elaborate deception” and was “unfit to teach” children.
Image credits: Northpix
Although Lara is currently the subject of an investigation and was struck from GTCS's teaching register earlier this year, she is still reportedly working with children.
She launched LAS Dance Collective, which has been running classes for adults and children.
“We just can’t imagine why she did this. To find out she is still working with children is shocking. This woman should never be allowed to be in charge of children,” said one former colleague, as quoted by The Times.
Another colleague told Mail on Sunday, “Everyone who knows her has been left gobsmacked and angry over her complete disregard for the truth.”
A Mail on Sunday reporter approached Lara last week, but she denied any wrongdoing and said, “That’s not me.”
“How on earth was this allowed?” one exclaimed online
