A contact she had to the Clintons told her they'd never heard of Macchiarini. Benita Alexander-Noel was born on April 21, 1966 in Australia. A JOURNALIST revealed the chilling clue that disclosed her lover and famed surgeon as a "romance scammer.". Since her romance with Paolo imploded in 2015, the brunette beauty has continued working on documentaries and docuseries'. He was giving people who had no other hope. Benita Alexander's documentary chronicles her fairytale romance with a celebrity surgeon that turned into a scam. In September 2020, Swedish prosecutors announced charges against Macchiarini for aggravated assault in connection to three surgeries that he had performed at the Karolinska University Hospital, including Cetir's. Benita graduated magna cum laude from Wayne State University in Michigan, with a B.A in journalism. For other inquiries, Contact Us. ET. That makes me crazy. But on the afternoon that she met him, a day before she was supposed to begin filming him, something happened that gave her pause. But Benita's intuition overtook her and she hired a private investigator to look into the surreal wedding. Nothing anybody could do for her, and then like so many of Dr. Paolo Macchiarini's patients, they did a google search and found this kind of a magician of a surgeon who said I can help your little girl. Maybe help me, help with the invitations 'cause I don't want to deal with that. [00:15:45] Benita: There was a particular moment when my ex-husband had gone into a coma, and I was in Illinois, and I was, I was um, very upset about everything and trying to figure out a way, I was talking to Paolo about trying to figure out what to do and how to say goodbye, and uh crying about the fact that I hadn't been able to say goodbye. Journalist Benita Alexander is swept off her feet by a dashing Italian doctor, Paolo Macchiarini, while filming a documentary about his miraculous surgeries. Cetir came to Macchiarini's attention after undergoing an elective procedure to correct a condition that caused excessive sweating. The famous surgeon, a miracle worker who gives hope to hopeless patients, who's rewriting the rules of medicine. You know the, the invitations talked about needing a password, a secret password to get into the wedding, and you couldn't get in unless you had the invitation with you. This is totally different. Among the high-powered clients who Macchiarini claimed were on this network were the Clintons, the Obamas and even Pope Francis. I'm never viewed like that, but I was definitely like, huh? I'll take care of it." Her purpose for doing so is simple; to not only move on but also build a safe community for survivors like her a place where theres self-healing through sharing and unconditional support. I don't know what I was. It was killing me, and but I was also so in love with him. When Benita discovers that her fiance is not who he claims to be, she goes on an emotional journey to unravel a trail of destruction that leaves patients dead and their shattered families in shock. You are leaving AARP.org and going to the website of our trusted provider. "That wasn't true. 5. And, and then he would tell me the priest won't marry us, and this went on and on and on. I'm kind of a control, you know, right, I'm kind of a control freak. Hundreds of Benita Alexander's friends and family had already bought their plane tickets to Italy to attend her extravagant wedding that was supposed to be officiated by the pope when it all came crashing down in a flurry of her fianc's deception. Some even believed he'd win a Nobel Prize one day, according to author Stuart Ritchie. Are you new to podcasts? I'm your host, Bob Sullivan. And I, I think at least that it makes me a better writer and a better journalist. I had to understand what happened and why. Sought after worldwide, people believed Macchiarini would one day revolutionize the field of organ transplantation, journalist Bo Lindquist said. Alexander was assigned to work on the documentary about Paolo Macchiarini who has considered a pioneer in organ transplant. It was going to be this four-day event in Rome, you know, with a red carpet event the night before the wedding, and a big brunch the day after the wedding, and people bought plane tickets, they bought fancy, you know, red carpet attire for this wedding. [00:04:22] Bob: And you had a happy ending. This is a true you must see it to believe it tale, with so many twists and turns, it will leave viewers stunned, asking only how this could have actually happened, Schleiff says. [00:36:51] Matthew Christopher: Yeah, yes, oh my gosh. If I had a checklist, he, he was everything I would want in a partner, everything you would want in a man. This was, I didn't even know what to say. In need of a lung transplant, doctors arranged to transfer her to Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. Benita Alexanders personal life story was part of the documentary film, He Lied About Everything. Um, made dinner, and did all this, and then we were discussing and showing fabrications and doing sketching and then like, you know, where were we going to begin? He's Catholic. "She was having problems with infections so, at that point, she came into contact with Dr. And, and, and embraced me and held me so hard. It was at this point that Benita said she started to feel that something was not right. [00:05:44] Benita: Yeah, I mean the, we wanted to do a story about this field called regenerative medicine which added base core, the most simplistic way to define this is, it's sort of sci-fi, futuristic medicine where the, the goal is to be able to create body parts or organs in the lab, man-made. And so we, we thought, you know, this is a perfect case to focus a story around, and so we started doing Hannah's story. [00:21:22] Benita: Tragically, Hannah passed away, which was, um, just devastating. His six papers on the transplant surgery were retracted. He was incredibly generous with them as well. Most importantly, though, we need to mention that Benita not only attended the former doctor/her former fiancs trial in Sweden, but she also covered it as a correspondent for season 3 of the Dr. It could go out the window. "He said he was having trouble finding a priest to marry us," she said. [00:31:42] Matthew Christopher: Yeah, I do, you know, I've done tons of celebrity stuff, tons of Broadway stuff. Paolo Macchiarini proposes to Benita Alexander before leaving US for work: Part 2Alexander seemed to be living a fantasy lifestyle. And I literally, I was really like, what? [00:10:16] Bob: And when they meet, well Benita is stunned by what happens. I literally felt like I was floating on clouds. I found him very um, hmm, he had a presence about him. It was eight months later when they became properly engaged after Macchiarini presented her with a $100K ring. It's a very aggressive form of brain cancer. I mean most 8-year-olds will change their minds, you know, many times, but I never changed. "I talked to my editors and we started thinking, 'Well, let's just keep pulling on this thread. I don't want you to do anything except find your dresses and just, all you have to do is show up and look beautiful. Death podcast. I truly was for a period there, happier than I think I've ever been. The latter refers to his misconduct that led to the deaths of several patients. [00:20:06] Benita: We had kind of quietly gotten engaged, but we weren't telling anybody um, because I mean the complicated thing about this is that there's a sort of unwritten rule in journalism that everybody understands, that, you know, there's, there is a line you just don't cross a kind of sacred line where you don't, you can empathize with a story subject, you can sympathize, but you don't become personally involved with a story subject for, for the reason, obviously, that your objectivity could be compromised, right. It was beyond Benita's wildest dreams - Macchiarini reportedly told her he invited Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Elton John, and that the Pope himself would oversee the ceremony. Alexander was working on a documentary about Macchiarini's success in the medical field. [00:06:46] Benita: And he was, as I said, called the super surgeon, and he was the pioneer in this field. As a journalist, Alexander knew she couldn't get involved with the subject of her story. But before the wedding can happen, Benita makes a discovery that may prove the doctor is not all he claims to be. She said she later sent a lengthy text message to him, and received a single-word response: "Wow! And I was, I was really moved by that. I mean, and we didn't know what to do. Benita is still wearing the second ring throughout the documentary! Together, they'd spend long weekends traveling to different countries, like Mexico, Russia and Greece. She is also the CEO of Berraca Productions, a company she founded to further her advocacy work empowering women who are the survivors of fraud. Moreover, the Italian investigator found records showing that despite planning a wedding with Alexander for so long, Macchiarini was still legally married. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Her first marriage was to fellow journalist John Noel. [00:36:07] Matthew Christopher: Confident, rico-suave, I am Paolo, ha-ha, and I'm like, okay, you know, I'm like am I nervous? Its so damaging. And we rode for probably 30, 45 minutes until I sort of found a spot that I thought was appropriate, and I got off the bike and I went to the water. Alexander didn't initially believe him, but she said Macchiarini told her that the pope wanted to push forward his progressive agenda for the church. They live in the same area outside Florence. Then, two years later, her father, whod married a neighbor, asked her to pack up her bags and leave for good. In addition to her work at NBC, she was the Executive Producer of the Oxygen documentary, "Seduced by Evil," which premiered in 2019 and reveals how a group of women banded together to take down the man who stole everything from them. And she, unfortunately, was born with no windpipe. I was just kind of like, um, 'cause Benita's so awesome and like, you know she was totally in love with him. She is currently the voice of the true crime series "Still A Mystery" on Investigation Discovery, and she has narrated four seasons of this ongoing, multi part show. They became friends and over time she felt herself falling for him, despite her journalistic integrity impeding the romance. He worked at the place that awards the Nobel Prize in Medicine, Karolinska Institute in Sweden, Stockholm, Sweden. And then in radio, producing a radio talk show, and then in local television. But as the wedding planning continued, Alexander's fianc became increasingly embroiled in work-related issues. And a very, very good listener and was giving me very wise, sage advice, you know, about all these questions; what to tell her, how to tell her, and I was sort of soaking it all up, and I was very touched by the fact that this man seemed so incredibly altruistic. But, she said he was in a "foul mood" the entire time they were there as he dealt with the continuing fallout from the allegations. [00:21:08] Bob: Benita is proud of her work and happy with her husband-to-be, excited to put the finishing touches on Hannah's medical miracle story, but before the piece airs, the story takes a dark turn. Learn how to subscribe to AARP Podcasts on any device. He has been convicted of research-related crimes in Italy and Sweden. [00:24:45] Bo Lindquist: I mean he basically said that he was going to revolutionize medicine, and, and not just invent a new kind of a trachea or a new kind of transplant, but actually revolutionize surgery. Macchiarini had reported that after his first patient underwent the procedure, a healthy trachea was beginning to develop, Lindquist said. ", "As devastated as I was and as much as I wanted to crawl under the covers and hide and stay there, I knew I couldn't fall apart," she said. [00:31:09] Matthew Christopher: Um, a couture wedding gown designer is someone that actually design gowns from beginning to end, whether that's draping, whether that's sketching; couture means it's handmade. View our online Press Pack. Paolo showers Benita with affection. I mean not, not physically, but he could be quite uh frightening actually when he got angry. And this trip had been planned for a very long time. She was floored when he told her John Legend would sing at their wedding and Pope Francis would officiate. Macchiarini.". And they kind of laughed. Corbascio called the decision "absolutely insane.". And he had been fighting with her in the courts in Brazil over this, and then she passed away, unfortunately. If I had a checklist, he, he was everything I would want in a partner, everything you would want in a man. [00:35:41] Matthew Christopher: Yeah, and we definitely um, we made sure that through this process, we made sure we took care of her, you know what I mean. 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