Unlike Belle Gibson, Jessica Ainscough Used Holistic Methods to Treat Real Cancer

In December 2013, Australian wellness influencer Jessica Ainscough was asked "10 Terrifying Questions" by the booktopia website. When asked what she wanted to be at the ages of 12, 18, and 30, Jessica gave one answer for all three ages. Apart from a brief interest in becoming a supermodel, she always wanted to be a journalist.

This interview occurred when Jessica was two years shy of turning 30. Sadly, she would never reach that birthday, as she passed away at the age of 29. Although she achieved her dreams in a way, after becoming a successful blogger, it's safe to assume there was so much more Jessica wanted to do before her death. What happened to her? Here's what we know.

Jessica passed away on Feb. 26, 2015, from epithelioid sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer that affects young adults and most often first develops in the hand or arm. Doctors advised Jessica to have her arm amputated at the shoulder, which could have increased her chance of surviving for 10 years.

Her relationship with the wellness industry began in 2008 when Jessica was living in Sydney and working as the online editor for DOLLY Magazine. That April, Jessica received her epithelioid sarcoma diagnosis and learned that it doesn't respond to chemotherapy or radiation. "Essentially, my condition was incurable," she wrote for DOLLY.

After going through chemotherapy, which did not work, Jessica's medical team once again suggested she consider amputation. Instead, the wellness influencer turned to something called the Gerson Therapy, an ineffective alternative treatment that "involves daily coffee enemas, a heavy regime of dietary supplements, and following a strict organic, vegetarian diet." That's when her brand, The Wellness Warrior, was born.

Around the time that Jessica was gaining followers based on her blog, another wellness influencer rose to fame after revealing that she was treating her incurable brain cancer using holistic methods similar to those in Gerson Therapy. Belle Gibson built an empire around her natural healing methods that included an app and book, both called The Whole Pantry. The difference between Belle and Jessica was the fact that Belle was lying about being sick. She was a con artist.

In February 2025, Netflix released Apple Cider Vinegar, a fictionalized telling of Belle's grifting ways. The series features a character named Milla Blake, who refuses to amputate her arm after being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. As far as the similarities with Jessica go, that's where it ends. The show's creator, Samantha Strauss, chose to portray Milla as someone with a Type-A personality who "felt she needed to be beautiful, she needed to be perfect, to be good enough," per SBS News.

Samantha said that Milla's choice can "be so easily dismissed by the doctors as vanity, but he's also never been a young woman having to take away something so personal as an arm." What Samantha was trying to convey was almost a punishing feeling, because Milla felt that getting sick was somehow a failure on her part.