13 things about Highland, Illinois’s Sarah Delashmit

Sarah A. Delashmit grew up in Highland, Illinois, United States. She was incarcerated amid the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic after admitting to scamming nonprofits by falsely claiming to have muscular dystrophy and breast cancer.

BIOGRAPHY

Delashmit is an American cancer scammer and a former nurse. She is a former resident of Aurora, Colorado, USA and she has lived in different parts of Oklahoma, USA including Broken Arrow, Claremore and Oklahoma City.

Aside from Highland, Delashmit has lived in other parts of Illinois including Carbondale, De Soto, Hurst and Springfield. Here are 13 more things about her:

1. She was born in 1984.
2. In 2003, she graduated from Highland High School in Highland.
3. From 2003 to 2007, she attended Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Illinois where she earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing.
4. In 2005, she was a counselor at a camp for children and adults with disabilities.
5. From 2006 to 2016, she regularly sent photos and shared stories about her fictitious husband, children, friends and relatives to Erin Johnson of Upland, California, USA, who uses a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy.
6. In 2006, Highland Police Department patrolman Chris Conrad interviewed her at her parents’ house in Highland during a college break after a complaint was filed against her by Andrea Smith, who represented a support group for spinal muscular atrophy patients and their families.
7. In 2013, she became an employee of Medical Solutions in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
8. In 2014, she was forced to surrender her license with the Oklahoma Board of Nursing after being accused of faking pregnancy two separate times while working in a neonatal intensive care unit in Oklahoma City. 
9. In 2015, she started falsely claiming she had been diagnosed muscular dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy so she could attend Camp Summit, a charity camp for disabled people in Texas, USA.
10. In 2017, she pretended to be a breast cancer survivor so she could attend the Young Survival Coalition national summit.
11. In 2018, she met Brian Hickox and his wife Liz Hickox, who are avid cyclists from Newport, Rhode Island, USA, and told the couple she had Stage 4 breast cancer, a husband who worked as a UPS pilot with post-traumatic stress disorder related to military service, a baby daughter and a job as a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, which were all false.
12. In 2020, she pleaded guilty to five federal felonies.
13. In 2021, she was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison.

TIMELINE

In 2006, Smith filed a complaint against Delashmit for using different email addresses through Yahoo and Gmail to pass as patients and mothers of children with the genetic disorder in online chats. When Delashmit attended the memorial service of Johnson’s mother, who died in 2014, she told people she had just undergone major back surgery the week before.

2000s

• In June 2005, she met Johnson at a camp for children and adults with disabilities where she worked as a counselor.

2010s

• In September 2013, she joined Medical Solutions in Omaha as a registered nurse.
• In October 2015, she started attending Camp Summit.
• In December 2015, her registered nurse license was indefinitely suspended for a minimum of one year for failure to report three reciprocal state disciplines of voluntary surrender in Oklahoma, revocation in Missouri, USA and indefinite suspension in Virginia, USA for inability to practice due to mental health status.
• She enjoyed the benefits of Camp Summit until March 2016.
• In October 2017, she started pretending to be a breast cancer survivor so she could attend the Young Survival Coalition national summit.
• She enjoyed the benefits the Young Survival Coalition national summit until March 2018.
• In October 2018, she met Brian and Liz at the Tour de Pink, which was sponsored by the Young Survival Coalition. The organization gave her more than $1,000 worth of financial benefits and donated items after she falsely claimed to be a breast-cancer survivor.
• In March 2019, she called Liz and pretended to be shot by a woman obsessed with her fictitious husband at a Walmart in Highland. Liz and Brian started to uncover her lies.
• In May 2019, she bought a $4,499 triathlon bike with her mother’s credit card and reported the charge as fraudulent so she could get the bike for free.
• In April 2019, she appeared on the “Dr. Phil” show where she was confronted by Brian and Liz.

2020s

• On October 13, 2020, she pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and four counts of wire fraud.
• In June 2021, she was arraigned and released on recognizance.
• On January 19, 2021, she appeared at the federal courthouse in East St. Louis, Illinois where she was sentenced to one year and six months in federal prison and three years of court supervision after her release. 
• In March 2022, she was released from prison.