27
“Lucy, will you hold on for just a sec?” Madeleine said, answering her mobile to her friend. “I’m actually just on the other line with Tom.”
“Of course. I completely understand. No problem. It’s just so...horrible. Is...there anything I can do to help you?”
Madeleine tsked. “Not unless you can figure out a way to get this whole mess thrown out by a judge who doesn’t hate our solicitor.” She picked up the landline and addressed her husband, bidding him goodbye. “Talk to you later, sweetheart, we’ll figure something out, OK?”
After hanging up on Tom, she resumed Lucy’s call and uttered a loud sigh. “What a day. Honestly—”
“What did you mean about the judge?” her friend replied, confused. “What else is going on? I mean, from the way you sounded I figured you knew what I was calling about...”
“What do you mean?” Madeleine interrupted, her heart speeding up a little. “I was talking about the court hearing this morning. The judge upheld Kate O’Hara’s claim. But hold on a second, you couldn’t possibly have known that. So what were you calling about?” Concern inched into her voice then, as she wondered what fresh hell was about to be unleashed on them now. It was bad enough that the judge was upholding Kate’s claim, which, incredibly, meant that this thing truly was headed for court. What could possibly be worse than that?
Lucy sighed heavily. “Just...just turn on your television, sweetheart. Turn it to Channel 2.”
“What? Why?” She muttered under her breath a little as she looked around for the remote control, and finally finding it, she turned on the TV.
The lunchtime news was on and Madeleine couldn’t quite believe the headline she was seeing scroll across the bottom of the family TV, or the words that were coming out of her Morning Coffee copanelist’s mouth.
Gemma Moore was informing the news anchor and lunchtime viewership that “popular blogger and self-proclaimed Mad Mum Madeleine Cooper is at the heart of a controversial legal action—sure to spark a lively debate over Cooper’s stance as an anti-vaccination proponent—that has this very morning culminated in a crushing blow from a High Court judge.”
The journalist was live in a TV studio, calmly discussing Madeleine’s private family business with the news anchor! She knew that Gemma Moore had a reputation for having no limits, but just then the Daily Record journalist clearly had Madeleine set firmly in her crosshairs.
“The lawsuit, which outlines negligence, personal injury and a host of other claims, was filed by Kate O’Hara, a single mother facing the ongoing serious illness of her daughter, Rosie, as a result of encephalitis directly caused by measles. Both children were not protected by the HSE-recommended MMR vaccination, and while they were the only two children at the school affected by this dangerous disease, it appeared that Clara Cooper was sent to school by her parents while infectious, which formed the basis for O’Hara’s willful-negligence claim...”
Madeleine felt like she had been hit by a train.
But how could you not feel that way when the carefully constructed persona and platform you had spent so much time building came crumbling down all around you?
“...so this morning’s High Court ruling suggests that this small community could soon be thrust directly into a savage anti-vaccination debate. The question remains: Who really is responsible when children are not vaccinated? Is this a frivolous lawsuit on behalf of Ms. O’Hara? Or can the Cooper family truly be held accountable for little Rosie O’Hara’s condition?”
“Why is she doing this?” Madeleine’s voice shook. “Why would anyone...”
“I don’t know and I’m so sorry. Can I do anything?” Lucy asked quietly.
Madeleine had almost forgotten her friend was on the other end of the line.
“I don’t... I just... No. I’m sorry, I need to go. Talk to you later.” And before Lucy could respond, she hung up the phone and continued to listen to Gemma Moore’s almost gleeful report on the legal action, her corresponding just-published article in the Daily Record, as well as all the background on Madeleine’s celebrity-blogger status, recent Morning Coffee appearances and often-controversial take on parenthood.
She cringed as the woman repeatedly rattled off the name and website address of the Mad Mum blog, just in case the public might need more information.
Or a target, more like, she thought, terrified.
Her vision blurred. She felt dizzy and light-headed. Her whole world was crumbling, and she had no idea what she was going to do.
Her laptop pinged from the kitchen table and Madeleine moved back to it, her hands shaking as immediately, in the wake of the bulletin, she watched comments pop up on her website, blog and various social media channels—almost all at the same time.
Horrible, hurtful, personal comments. She was being openly mocked.
@MumsForHealth What a joke. One thing for @MadMum to talk about not taking motherhood seriously, quite another to be downright irresponsible! Vaccinate your kids for god’s sake! #measlescourtcase
This had already been shared a couple of hundred times.
@Journalie Breaking: Irish mummy blogger @MadMum in hot water for her #antivaxx status. #MadMum or #BadMum—your thoughts?
Then all of the follow-up commentary as the entire internet seemed to pile on with relish.
All of a sudden, everyone had an opinion on her and her family. Some expressed a hope that she and Tom “lost everything” in the court case. Others even bleated for social services to take away their kids...
As Madeleine scrolled through the rapidly increasing traffic, which had both her own name and that of her blog trending almost instantly nationwide, her panic levels rose in accordance.
Mercifully, she saw that there were at least one or two people defending her in the midst of the melee, but they were few and far between. Complete strangers tried to talk reason, while others expressed outright hatred.
@MumtoCharlie Give her a break, we don’t know the full details yet. Maybe there’s a reason her kids didn’t get vaccinated. Could be allergic or vulnerable? #trolls #innocentuntilprovenguilty
@MforMum Thinking of Kate O’Hara and poor little Rosie. Shame on you @MadMum. #Irresponsible #JusticeforRosie #vaccineswork
Her mother-in-law had been right to warn her, Madeleine realized now, the full horror of it all overtaking her. The public loved to express an opinion—never more so than on the internet—and right now, the full force of those primarily negative opinions was headed directly her way.
These people didn’t even know her. They had no idea what was going on with this situation—outside of what Gemma Moore had told them, that was.
Gemma Moore.
She was behind all of this. Yes, she and the other woman had locked horns a little on the panel show, but for Madeleine, at least, it had been harmless banter, just for the cameras. What had she done to seriously deserve all this?
“Oh, my God. What do I do?” she whispered into the silence of her kitchen.
She thought about deleting some of the comments beneath her blog and on Facebook (unlike Twitter, at least she could get rid of those) but then hesitated, knowing full well what internet trolls did when they thought they were being “silenced.”
They just got louder.
Her head spun as she tried to think through her options. It was true that people had short attention spans, and she supposed she could just ignore this. However, she was also smart enough to realize that to remain silent was probably the worst thing that she could do.
Damage control...
She bit her lip, realizing the other further-reaching implications of all this, too. She could only imagine what was being said around Knockroe, by people who actually knew her and Kate.
She had to address this. Being up-front and honest about what had happened was the right choice. It had always been her modus operandi both on-and off-line, and that wasn’t going to change now.
Madeleine pulled up her word processor and began to type a fresh blog post—one that she hoped would go viral just as quickly as Gemma’s news story.
She wasn’t a villain and this was all being blown way out of proportion. Madeleine was sure people would understand once they heard her side of the story. She would explain everything and let the world know that she wasn’t a bad person, or an irresponsible mother.
With luck, Kate would hear about it and read it, too, and finally she might be able to reach Rosie’s mum in a way she couldn’t thus far.
She’d let Tom do things his way and, based on what had happened that morning, it had proven to be the wrong move.
Madeleine would make this right. She had to.