Funding my ex's £35k hospital treatment almost left me homeless – a call from her kids' social worker changed everything

The Sun

21-07-2025

SEEING the number flash up on his phone, James Andrews felt the familiar feeling of dread wash over him.
He knew full well that it would be his ex partner Marta Szymanska's doctor and that the news wouldn't be good.
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Having battled a chronic illness for months James was used to handing over money for her medical treatment and had been sacrificing his own bills to do so.
But what James didn't realise was that it was all part of a cruel scam that conned him out of almost £35,000.
'I feel ashamed and foolish to have fallen for her cruel and calculated con, but she was someone I'd loved and cared for,' the 49-year-old says.
James met Szymanska after matching with her on a dating app and says that their connection was almost instant.
'I was quickly impressed by Marta,' he says.
'She had old-fashioned values, dressed elegantly and loved classic films; it didn't take us long to become an official.'
But despite their speedy start James admits that things fizzled out with Szymanska after he went travelling.
James, a chef from Northwich, Cheshire says: 'I missed Marta, however, and when I got back we decided to make a proper go of things.'
A few months later James asked Szymanska to move in and for the next two years the couple lived a happy existence.
But during lockdown, things started to deteriorate.
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'One night, I came home from a long shift to find Marta had been drinking,' James says.
'There were cans of cider littering the front room and she was sprawled on the sofa.
'I tried to confront her but couldn't get any sense out of her.
'I decided to go to my dad's. But when I got back, Marta was still drinking and the house was a mess.
'It was clear she had a problem, so I encouraged her to get help and got her a job where I worked.'
James says that after that Szymanska seemed to improve and normality resumed but it wasn't to last.
'Just a few weeks later she'd hit the bottle again,' James recalls.
'Whenever she was drunk, she would lash out verbally at me. I felt as if I was walking on eggshells.
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'I'd even bathe her as she'd stopped looking after herself. It was heartbreaking.
'She'd promise to stop drinking but I'd find bottles of booze hidden all around the house.
'I called the police and social workers, but nobody seemed to help.'
After a tense Christmas, James made the decision to end things with Szymanska.
'But she refused to leave,' he claims.
'My frustration got the better of me, and I pushed her outside. She fell and banged her knee and elbow.
'I felt terrible and ashamed. I'd never done anything like that before.
'I apologised, but Marta pressed charges.'
James pleaded guilty to common assault and asked to go on a Building Better Relationships course.
Meanwhile, Szymanska stayed in the house, while James moved in with his dad because she claimed she had nowhere else to go.
Three months later, she finally left but James says that when he came home his house was 'a complete mess.'
'I never wanted to see Marta again, and tried to move on,' he says.
'Only, two months later, I got a call. It was Marta, and she seemed distressed.
'She told me she'd stopped drinking and had got a job but her boss had done a runner with her wages.
'I felt bad for her, and agreed to send £820 for living expenses which she promised to pay back.
'But as the weeks marched on she kept making excuses about why she hadn't paid me yet.
'Then, a month later, she told me she was in hospital after collapsing and had been sectioned. I knew she suffered from depression and was worried about her.'
Weeks passed, then one day James received a call from a man called Dr Jahavar Singh.
'He told me Marta was very ill and required lifesaving treatment,' he says.
'He explained she had encephalitis of the brain and had been placed in an induced coma.'
The doctor claimed that he'd paid out of his own pocket and asked James to cover the costs, to later be reimbursed by NHS England.
'I tried to tell him that it was not my problem and that Marta had family in Poland but the doctor told me I was listed as next of kin,' says James.
'After that, I was bombarded with calls every few days, asking for hundreds of pounds.
'I felt pressured to help her, but it left me struggling to pay my bills.'
A month later James received yet another call with Dr Singh telling him that Szymanska had deteriorated and needed further treatment and injections.
Days later, James says another one of Szymanska's doctors told him she had a 50% chance of survival.
'I was devastated and broke down in tears,' she says.
'I was very concerned about her, but by then, I'd handed over £15k and had nothing left.
'But a nurse called Eva told me I'd get the money back, telling me my ex's disability benefit and compensation were due.
'I also got various emails from Citizen's Advice and the NHS backing up Marta's claims about her illness, and giving complicated reasons for why my money hadn't been returned as promised.
'Marta also assured me I'd be reimbursed.'
But the financial strain meant that James wasn't sleeping as most of his wages were going towards Szymanska's treatment.
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Then weeks later, Szymanska was discharged from hospital.
'I was relieved she was better and assumed that would be an end to the demands for money,' James recalls.
But not long after, Szymanska called James in tears, claiming that she couldn't afford her medication and also needed money for vet bills and rent.
'She told me she had bailiffs at her door but I questioned her about her benefits and asked her if this was some sort of con,' James says.
'But she forwarded me emails from Citizen's Advice saying her finances were in a mess and they were working on getting money back from the bank.
'I had to resort to borrowing cash from friends, family and colleagues. It was humiliating.'
One day a concerned colleague took James aside.
'He told me it sounded dodgy and asked me whether I was sure this was the truth,' James says.
'But I had the emails to back it up.'
Meanwhile, letters from James' mortgage company warned him that he was at risk of losing his house if he didn't keep up repayments.
He says: 'I was out of my mind with stress, but I believed I was doing the right thing by helping Marta.'
But almost two years later, James still hadn't received a penny back and things came to a head one night at a train station.
'A dark thought ran through my head,' he admits.
'But the faces of my loved ones filled my mind, and I stepped away from the edge.'
Months later, James received a call from a social worker because she mistakenly thought he was the father of one of Szymanska's children.
And what she told him sent him reeling.
'She said that Marta was physically well and didn't have any medical conditions,' James says.
'I was in shock. She'd spun a cunning web of lies to convince me she was seriously ill.
'I realised the doctor, nurse and the official-looking emails were all fake.
'She'd taken advantage of my kindness and scammed me out of £34,234.
'I couldn't breathe.'
The social worker encouraged James to phone the police. After filing his report James' phone, bank statements and the file of fake emails were taken away.
It was a complex investigation, but a year later, Szymanska was charged with 10 counts of fraud by false representation.
Days before she was due to stand trial, Marta Szymanska, 43, pleaded guilty at Chester Crown Court.
'Part of me was relieved, but another felt I'd been cheated, as she wouldn't have to explain herself,' James says
'I went to court to see her sentenced, but felt let down when she received a 20-month suspended sentence after probation officers said she'd had a difficult childhood.'
Sentencing, Judge Steven Everett told her, 'You conned Mr Andrews in a particularly sophisticated and cruel way, pretending that you were ill and pretending that there were difficulties.'
James adds: 'I had no reason not to believe her.
'The idea of opening up to anyone terrifies me and I fear I may never recover financially or mentally.'
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