A mother has been left devastated after finding out that a female fraudster from America was using her son's pictures to siphon money from people.
Their son Hugo died 35 days after he was born
A mother has been left traumatized after discovering that an American woman was using the photo of her dead premature son who died at 35-days-old for a bogus fundraising website in America.
According to
Dailymail, Leigh Kendall, 38, and her partner Martin Parker, 43, lost their son Hugo in 2014 after life-threatening pregnancy complications forced her to give birth prematurely at 24 weeks.
Their little boy died 35 days after he was born during which time the family shared images of him online to raise awareness of premature births.
But two years on, Leigh was contacted by an American woman via Facebook, who warned Hugo's picture was being used on an American GoFundMe fundraising page by a woman claiming she needs $10,000 for hotel and medical bills for her son in Virginia, USA.
Ms Kendall, a NHS communications manager from Bedford, said: 'I was disgusted that someone would do that, use a picture of my baby for their own gain.
'I'm so thankful for this stranger for bringing it to our attention or we my not have known about this at all.'
The stolen photograph shows two-day-old Hugo lying on a sheet made of silk to protect his very tender premature skin.
It was featured on a blog post written by Leigh's partner, Martin, about a dad's experience of the neonatal intensive care unit which was published back in May 2014.
The American stranger who contacted the family had recognised Hugo from a previous story, said she had seen online.
Leigh Kendall, and her partner Martin Parker
Ms Kendall added: 'When I saw the page my stomach just went, I felt ill, I really could not believe my eyes, I was in disbelief.
'I didn't really know what to do, I filled out a complaint form on the website but you don't know how soon these will be seen to, I went on Facebook and asked my friends for support, they were fantastic they also complained to get it taken down.'
Fortunately the fraudulent page was taken down with no money donated in the day or so it was online.