Amy Bruce Chain Letter
Netlore Archive: The sad, untrue story of 7-year-old lung cancer victim Amy Bruce — another Internet 'dying child' who doesn't really exist.
Description: Email hoax
Circulating since: 1999
Status: False
Example #1:
Email text contributed by Kim O., Aug. 18, 1999:
| Hi, my name is Amy Bruce. I am 7 years old, and I have severe lung cancer from second hand smoke. I also have a large tumor in my brain, from repeated beatings The doctors say I will die soon if this isn't fixed, and my family can't pay the bills. The Make A Wish Foundation, has agreed to donate 7 cents for every name on this list. For those of you who send this along, I thank you so much, but for those who don't send it, what goes around comes around. Have a Heart, please send this. |
Example #2:
Facebook wall posting dated Sep. 21, 2011:
| 7yr old with Cancer, from Rosebush, MI ....Hi my name is Amy Bruce, I am 7yrs old and I have a large tumor on my brain and severe lung cancer. The doctors say I will die soon if this isn't fixed, and my family can't pay the bill's. The Make A Wish Foundation has agreed to donate $7 for every time this message is sent on. For those of you who send this along, I Thank You so much. But for those who don't send it, I will pray for you. Please put this as your status for an hour |
Analysis: You know, you take one look at this absurd chain letter written in 1999 — purportedly by a 7-year-old who not only has severe lung cancer but (in the original version) is dying because of a brain tumor "from repeated beatings" — and you naturally think: no one could possibly fall for this!
But, as I review the still-circulating text again in September 2011, the evidence to the contrary is all too plain — people have been copying, pasting, and forwarding this bogus message uncritically for 12 years. Twelve years! Appalling but true.
Moreover, the Amy Bruce chain letter is essentially a copycat hoax familiar from previous incarnations dating back as far as 1997:
• Jessica Mydek Chain Letter
• David Lawitts Chain Letter
• Tamara Martin Chain Letter
• Timothy Flyte Chain Letter
Every known version of the Amy Bruce plea claims the Make-A-Wish Foundation is prepared to donate some specific amount of money toward her medical bills — 7 cents in the 1999 version, 7 dollars in 2011 — every time it's forwarded or reposted. But how could anyone possibly know how many times the message has been been forwarded or reposted? Does the Make-A-Wish foundation employ psychics? For that matter, did Make-A-Wish suddenly reverse its longstanding policy of not participating in chain letter campaigns? Of course not.
Read the official statements below:
• Fraud Alert: Chain Letters - Make-A-Wish U.S.A.
• Hoax Notice: 'Amy Bruce' Emails and Facebook Posts - Make-A-Wish U.K.
Update: Variants of the Amy Bruce chain letter circulating via email since March 2006 include the photograph reproduced at right. Needless to say, it is not a picture of Amy Bruce, who doesn't exist. It appears the image was stolen from a page on the UNICEF website (© UNICEF/HQ02-0206/Toutounji).
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Last updated: 09/27/11
