Wait—Did Gypsy Rose Blanchard Really Win A Child Of The Year Award IRL?
The Act shows a scene in which Gypsy Rose Blanchard wins an award for Child of the Year.
In real life, Gypsy did win a similar award, based on her positive attitude and charity efforts in the face of her medical conditions.
It's now known that none of Gypsy's medical conditions were real, but she's still listed as the Oley Foundation's 2007 Child of the Year.
The Act, Hulu’s new series that’s based on the true story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her mother Dee Dee, has viewers fascinated by what’s part of the real story and what the show creators have added to the plot. In the second episode of the series, Gypsy (played by Joey King) is shown receiving an award for “2009 Child of the Year” from Springfield Gives, but it’s not a totally accurate portrayal of Gypsy’s life.
A little background: Gypsy suffered years of abuse from her mother Dee Dee, who had Munchausen syndrome by proxy, which led her to pretend Gypsy was severely physically and mentally ill and needed a wheelchair, even though she was healthy, in order to get attention and sympathy. Gypsy eventually figured this out and hatched a plan with her online boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn to murder Dee Dee so she could escape.
Long before all of that, Gypsy did win a similar award to the one she gets in episode 2, also called the “Child of the Year” award, from the Oley Foundation. Oley is a non-profit that aims to “enrich the lives of patients dependent on home intravenous nutrition (parenteral) and tube feeding (enteral) through education, advocacy, and networking,” according to its website. Each year, they name a “Child of the Year” who is “18 years of age or under, [a] HomePEN consumer for one year or longer, [and] shows a positive attitude in dealing with illness and therapy which encourages and inspires others.” Gypsy had a feeding tube (though she didn’t really need one), and was given the award in 2007.
The foundation announced that Gypsy was receiving the honor in their newsletter, stating that “Gypsy Rose Blancharde [sic] is twelve years old, yet one of her friends says she has wisdom and compassion beyond her years.” Of course, it’s now known the Gypsy was actually 15.
The newsletter continued, “Multiple health issues don’t stop Gypsy from encouraging and uplifting others. Before Hurricane Katrina caused Gypsy and her mother to relocate, Gypsy would talk at a university in New Orleans on why we should help and love one another. At eight years old, Gypsy took the allowance she had been saving for a trip to Disney and used it instead to buy food and blankets for those in need. When she and her mom ended up in need themselves, Gypsy’s mom says she never complained. Instead, she would say things are getting better and point out a beautiful flower, saying, ‘We didn’t see that yesterday; how lucky that we can see it today.'”
The newsletter also featured a story of Gypsy organizing gatherings for songs and games in her and Dee Dee’s Hurricane Katrina evacuation camp. It’s unclear if these stories are true or not, but it is known that Gypsy was not sick and didn’t need a feeding tube, which allowed her to be considered for the award.
The truth about Gypsy’s health didn’t come out until years later in 2015, when she was discovered with Godejohn after they murdered Dee Dee. She’s now serving a 10-year prison sentence, and is up for parole in 2023.
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