The true story behind Milla Blake from Apple Cider Vinegar is absolutely heartbreaking

The shocking Netflix series Apple Cider Vinegar focuses on the real life story of Belle Gibson, an Australian who faked having cancer and then recovering using apple cider vinegar. However, one other key character in Apple Cider Vinegar is Milla Blake, who was also loosely based on someone from real life.

In the series, Milla Blake is a journalist at Girlfriend, who sadly gets diagnosed with cancer but becomes friends with Belle and turns to natural remedies. At one point she refuses to have her arm amputated in order to save her life, but did any of this even happen in real life?

Via Netflix

It seems Milla Blake from Apple Cider Vinegar is based on Jessica Ainscough, the digital editor of Dolly’s Magazine who was diagnosed with a type of soft tissue cancer called epithelioid sarcoma when she was in her early twenties.

According to The Guardian, Jessica also received the same treatment plan as Milla did in Apple Cider Vinegar, with doctors recommending her arm be amputated in order to stop the cancer from spreading.

Via Netflix

However, Jessica decided to to refuse the recommended treatment and instead turned to natural methods, including one called Gerson Therapy which consists of a “special diet, supplements and injections of liver extracts.”

After starting her own blog about the effectiveness of natural treatment online, Jessica left her job at Dolly Magazine and started gaining a following for her methods.

In an interview with Fairfax, she explained: “It started out as a personal journal online and attracted a worldwide family craving this information.”

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Jessica’s mother was also diagnosed with breast cancer and decided to follow her daughter’s treatment plan instead of using chemotherapy, and sadly passed away in 2013.

Jessica’s health also started to quickly decline as she shared on her blog: “For the last few months, I’ve been pretty much bedridden. This year absolutely brought me to my knees.”

Two years after her mother’s passing and just months after her blog post, Jessica also passed away aged 30.

Apple Cider Vinegar is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.