real life
Benita Alexander, 57, thought she’d met her dream man, but he was spinning a cruel web of lies…
Working as a journalist, my assignment for the day was to do a story on regenerative medicine.
During my research, the name Paolo Macchiarini kept coming up.
He was a Swiss-born Italian cardio thoracic surgeon who’d become known as one of the world’s leading regenerative medicine researchers.
He’d constructed an artificial airway made of plastic in a lab, which could be coated in the patient’s own stem cells. It was the first of its kind and it had the potential to transform lives. His nickname was the Super Surgeon.
Paolo agreed that my team could do a documentary about his work. We wanted to film him operating on the youngest ever transplant patient to receive an artificial windpipe, two-year-old Hannah Warren, who was born with a rare birth defect. Sadly, one of his patients, Christopher Lyles, 30, had already died after the procedure, which was meant to prolong his life with tracheal cancer. But many other patients were keen to have the operation.
When Paolo and I first met, there was an instant spark between us. A few months later, he kissed me. It felt wrong for us to cross the professional line, but we couldn’t deny our connection. We opened up to each other and he was excited to meet my nine-year-old daughter. Paolo soon treated me to a lavish holiday in Venice and I was swept off my feet. But when we got home, I needed time to myself while I grieved the death of my ex-husband. Soon after, Paolo came to visit and we picked up where we left off. We continued jet-setting and money was no object for him. He’d treat me to the best hotels, expensive wine and beautiful jewellery. I felt like I was in a fairy tale, and I was in awe that he was treating patients around the world. He had five phones, one for each language he spoke.
Six months later, Paolo came to mine for Christmas and handed me a little box. I opened it to find a white gold diamond ring and he grinned. “Is this what I think it is?”
I gasped, while he smiled and nodded. When the shock subsided, I excitedly agreed to marry him. Aside from close friends and family, we agreed to keep the engagement private until my documentary aired. Sadly, the young patient Hannah passed away due to complications after we finished filming. Paolo was visibly devastated by the news. “This will help me to perfect the procedure in the future – Hannah will be a pioneer,” he sobbed.
One day, Paolo revealed he was part of a secret network of doctors with high-profile clients, like the Clintons and Obamas. Then a shocking article was published about him being investigated for scientific misconduct. He convinced
