Sylvia Browne and Luke Lum

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

I've already shared this story with Robert but I thought other forumites might be interested in reading it.


October 19, 2006 Thursday

...



COMMERCIAL BREAK
MONTEL WILLIAMS, HOST
Now you know when someone needs a wish granted, they turn to a lot of different places, but one of the place they say turn to is the Make-a-Wish Foundation. And today...

SYLVIA BROWNE, BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC
Yes.
MONTEL WILLIAMS, HOST

...we're gonna grant a young man's wish by giving him a chance to meet you. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the show Luther and his father Gilbert. Welcome the two of them.

APPLAUSE

MONTEL WILLIAMS, HOST

And dad, why don't you talk, and Gilbert, how old are you, buddy? Can I ask you, how old are you?
LUTHER LUM, CONTACTED MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION TO MEET SYLVIA BROWNE

Eighteen.

MONTEL WILLIAMS, HOST
Eighteen. 18 years old.

GILBERT, LUTHER'S DAD
Yeah.

MONTEL WILLIAMS, HOST
And dad, Gilbert's is suffering from what?

GILBERT, LUTHER'S DAD
Well, Luther has multiple sclerosis. He was diagnosed at 13, 13 years old.

MONTEL WILLIAMS, HOST
And see, you know, and I wanted you to say that because people are gonna think that maybe I just pre-planned this. But, one of the things, and I was asked earlier, why do a show on MS? But, what we're finding in the last 10 years is that there's more and more Luthers coming up...

GILBERT, LUTHER'S DAD
Yes.

SYLVIA BROWNE, BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC
Yes.

MONTEL WILLIAMS, HOST
...than before. Twenty years ago, there may have been five to 10, 20 cases of reported...

SYLVIA BROWNE, BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC
Montel, look at ALS and, and Parkinson's.

MONTEL WILLIAMS, HOST
It's crazy. In the United States, maybe 20 cases of children under the age of 18 with this illness.

SYLVIA BROWNE, BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC
What about people that are 60 and over who are now getting it? Never used to be.

MONTEL WILLIAMS, HOST
We're seeing it. I know that you wanna spend time with Sylvia. And she wanna arrange that for after the show. But, do you have--dad-you have a question for Sylvia that you might wanna have asked?

GILBERT, LUTHER'S DAD
If I could ask, I would just wanna, I mean, my son is very driven, I mean, he's graduated, like, 5th in his class, only behind the valedictorians.

SYLVIA BROWNE, BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC
He's gonna go to college.
GILBERT, LUTHER'S DAD

And I just want him to know that, will he be content with at the, you know, lately, what he could have been?

SYLVIA BROWNE, BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC
Uh-huh, absolutely. 'Cause he's gonna help other people with this.

MONTEL WILLIAMS, HOST
Wait a second. Don't be content, Luther. Because the truth of the matter is...

SYLVIA BROWNE, BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC
Yeah, you're gonna be...

MONTEL WILLIAMS, HOST
Keep working it. Like, just your appearance here, I'm gonna tell you, it just raised some money. That money will go to research.

SYLVIA BROWNE, BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC
Yes.

MONTEL WILLIAMS, HOST
And she can't say it. But let me tell you, as crazy as this is, people your age are what's giving people my age hope.

SYLVIA BROWNE, BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC
Yes.

MONTEL WILLIAMS, HOST
Because if they find out why this affects you, then they can help me.

SYLVIA BROWNE, BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC
And they'll find--yes.

MONTEL WILLIAMS, HOST
So, don't give up. Believe it. As smart as you are, you know what's going on inside of you. You know what's going on inside of here. This disease is not gonna affect that. So apply it. Keep studying. You may be one of the people that helps us cure this thing, dude. Just stay on it, okay? I'm gonna take a little break. We'll be back...

SYLVIA BROWNE, BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC
'Cause he's gonna go to college and be...

MONTEL WILLIAMS, HOST
...right after this.
APPLAUSE
COMMERCIAL BREAK
APPLAUSE

...


http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Dec/03/ln/hawaii712030332.html



LUTHER "LUKE" LUKELAOKALANI LUM, 19, of 'Ewa Beach, died Nov. 17, 2007. Born in Honolulu. Survived by parents, Gilbert and Celeste; sisters, Charlene and Amber; grandparents, Nelson and Clare Choo; Jesus and Linda Colon. Visitation 10 a.m. Thursday at Mililani Mortuary Makai Chapel; service 11:30 a.m. Burial 12:30 p.m. at Mililani Memorial Park. Casual attire. Arrangements by Mililani Memorial Park & Mortuary.

 

[Skeptic Guy]

Man, oh, man, oh, man....I really do not like that woman.

 

[sthomson]

Why does she even pretend anymore? This is absolutely ridiculous.

Edited to add: I don't think there's anything wrong with encouraging a kid that he's going to be OK, that he's going to go to college, even when it's obvious that he's very sick, but to do so while at the same time claiming to be a psychic is just horrendously inapprorpiate.

 

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

Isn't anyone else appalled at Montel's exploitation of a fellow MS patient?

I have no idea how he, as a parent, could have participated in raising false hopes in the families of missing children.

A fellow MS sufferer? An 18-year-old boy? This is who you are exposing to a lying fraud who might have told him he was going to live a long life? That's even lower.

You cannot sink lower than that.

 

[jon]

When you think that some people can't sink any lower, they manage to surprise you...

 

[TruthBeTold]

I blogged it...posing to all of my faithful readers (all 2 of them) the question "is the only time Sylvia helps the Make A Wish Foundation"?!

I hope you don't mind that I mentioned you by name Eenie. Its such a common name that I figured why not? Thanks for the information!!

 

[Flo]

.... BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND WORLD RENOWNED PSYCHIC

Somebody should tell that piece of scum of the lowest order that nobody knows about her outside of the US, except for a very small number of people on the internet, who would certainly not use "renowned" in conjunction to her name ...

 

[Tiktaalik]

I think it's kind of funny that Montel kept interrupting and talking over her. She really didn't get a chance to put her foot in it much. He even contradicted her at one point (after his Dad asked if he would be content, and she said "uh-huh" and then Montel said "Wait a minute - don't be content."). Maybe he's beginning to realize that if he lets her talk too much she screws up...