benita alexander documentary

And they kind of laughed. It was at this point that Benita said she started to feel that something was not right. "The headline is that it started out as a beautiful love story and it ended up as a total nightmare," said Benita. TV & Film Producer, Director, Writer, Correspondent, Narrator. Then, two years later, her father, whod married a neighbor, asked her to pack up her bags and leave for good. [00:23:44] Bo Lindquist: Paolo was very well-dressed and very careful with his looks. [00:31:32] Bob: I mean that sounds like a very special process. Documentary producer Benita Alexander thought it was love when her job introduced her to internationally renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. In her personal life, she's also looking for a medical miracle, a miracle that, well it wasn't going to come. Among the high-powered clients who Macchiarini claimed were on this network were the Clintons, the Obamas and even Pope Francis. The self-proclaimed love con expert is essentially currently utilizing her platform to expose various cases and empower brave women to not be shamed into silence, as per her Instagram. 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. "As furious as it makes me what he did [to me and] my daughter, the thought that this is a man who has people's lives in his hands. "He and I started going to dinners and I was kind of pouring my heart out to him about all this stuff. We were sitting together on the, on the plane, and I just sort of started pouring my heart out to him, and he was a very good friend. [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. He was giving people who had no other hope. In fact, he told me that Paolo would often leave their interview to engage in some frantic texting with someone, probably a lover, probably Benita. Then, just before New Year's Eve, he left the U.S., telling Alexander that he had a "really important surgery" to perform. Mathias Corbascio, another cardiothoracic surgeon who worked at the Karolinska Institute at the time, said the intensive care unit doctor responsible for her care began consulting with him on the literature written by Macchiarini on tracheal replacements. 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. You know, part of it is you meet so many different people that you would never meet otherwise, but when you can tell a story that actually makes a difference in someone's life, that, to me, that's one of the most beautiful things about journalism. [00:36:44] Bob: I feel like there's some people you meet who are simultaneously uh impressive but uncomfortable. How to, what do we do now? The qualified journalist then began working at a string of local television stations. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. It does make it difficult sometimes, because you, some stories are so heavy and so difficult, and I would sometimes, it would take me weeks sometimes to sort of shake a story, and people would sit with me, and their stories would sit with me for a long, long time. Um, and so he had, we were coming back into the room after dinner one night, and I was kind of teasing him. After relocating to New York, Benita worked for NBC and was featured in NBC's documentary "A Leap of Faith" in 2013. But Bo at the time had no idea who it was. And she meets Christopher at his shop. By the time Alexander discovered these things about Macchiarini, she said she'd spent over $50,000 on wedding preparations and quit her job. She reflected on their relationship and wondered how she could've missed all the red flags. Macchiarini proposed to Alexander on Christmas Day in 2013. He proposed to Alexander on Christmas in 2013 and she said yes. In response to Gerdin's report, Macchiarini denied all the findings. "I made a very strategic decision to start playing a cat-and-mouse game, basically," she said. Famous For Being an American actress and producer. But before the wedding can happen, Benita makes a discovery that may prove the doctor is not all he claims to be. Benita Alexander-Noel was born on April 21, 1966 in Australia. She said she'd never fantasized about a "Prince Charming." Best Known For For her appearance in ID Now (2017), Dateline NBC (1992) and Inside the Obama White House (2009). I mean I'm going to achieve this; you know what I mean? [00:26:36] Benita: Paolo wanted a big, Catholic wedding. He never did that with me, but I, I've, I have seen him really being quite, quite unpleasant with um, PhDs and people who were sort of subordinate. Alexander was assigned to work on the documentary about Paolo Macchiarini who has considered a pioneer in organ transplant. [00:36:51] Matthew Christopher: Yeah, yes, oh my gosh. He is one of the world's leading cardio thoracic surgeons. So this is not really out of the realm of possibility that he would have contacts at the Vatican. 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. Um, it hit all of us very, very hard. again. And it's a beautiful building, and it just has this feeling about it, you know, as you, it's a very special feeling too. Six years later, in 2009, they filed for divorce. [00:12:11] Benita: Not like that, you know, this was, this was one of those almost cliche movie moments where, you know, I don't even believe in love at first sight, but there was some sort of thing, something happened. In the next 24 hours, you will receive an email to confirm your subscription to receive emails I mean I, I loved NBC. Come on. I thought he was playing some kind of silly game with me. He worked at the place that awards the Nobel Prize in Medicine, Karolinska Institute in Sweden, Stockholm, Sweden. The way he used stem cells with his plastic tracheas would eventually develop into something quite extraordinary where you could use stem cells to target organs or other areas of the body where the, where there was a medical problem. [00:01:54] Bob: Benita didn't start her career working for a larger network in New York. Eventually, she died. Benita Alexander is a strong, independent, intelligent, warm, and loving woman who thought she found her love connection with a man that swept her off her feet, much like prince charming! And she, unfortunately, was born with no windpipe. [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. And it's presented to me by Paolo, it's not even about our wedding or about our love story. "He [the Pope] wanted to use us as the poster couple for the Catholic church, to prove people who are divorced can get married in the Catholic church.". [00:08:14] Benita: But we, we started looking into him, and then he was about to do a transplant on this beautiful, beautiful little toddler, um, her name was Hannah, from Seoul, South Korea. He was kind of a rebel. I was there for about 20 minutes, and I, I tossed these flowers into the water, and I was, you know, very emotional in saying goodbye to John. "And then I want him to be held accountable. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. [00:39:32] Bob: And as the day approaches, Benita gets to try on that custom-made wedding dress. 5 Journalist Benita Alexander (right) has. Death." News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. Lindquist's three-part documentary series "The Experiments" began airing just over a week after the damning Vanity Fair article was published in early January 2016. [00:12:46] Benita: Oh yeah, no, I immediately just sort of shoved it down and thought whatever that was, it was, it was silly, and uh, let's forget about that. [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. Cetir died waiting for the lung transplant she desperately needed. And the stem cells were supposed to magically integrate, and he was fixing people. [00:35:38] Bob: I mean it sounds like that could cost an infinity if you wanted it to. [00:23:07] Bob: The first time you met him was where? 5. "She had suffered at least two strokes; she had lost much of her vision, so she was partially blind; she couldn't walk," Pinto said. He was dying and Macchiarini became someone Alexander could lean on. And I think I was even blushing. Along the way he promises her a fairy tale wedding to be officiated by the Pope. His six papers on the transplant surgery were retracted. But our guest list was insane because now that the Pope was marrying us, he kept inviting all these dignitaries, you know, so world leaders were coming to our wedding. After she called Macchiarini, furious about what she'd read, she began to wonder what else he might have lied about. The 56-year-old actually has a podcast appropriately titled Benita & the Berracas for the same, and she continues to be an active advocate on the matter. "I wanted to get all the information that I could before I really confronted him.". Benita has since spoken up about her experiences in the media, given public speeches, and written detailed articles in renowned publications to bring awareness to the concept of love con. I think he needs to be behind bars. It could go out the window. "He didnt know Pope Francis, he wasnt his personal doctor.". receive communications related to AARP volunteering. And spent months, you know, this did not happen overnight. You know we went on this incredibly romantic trip to Greece, and he was always videotaping me. And her parents were just distraught, you know, they wanted, they had been told she might live 6 or 7 years, and there's no cure. [00:04:39] Benita: I think one of the things that can make you a good journalist if, is if you're able to put yourself in the other person's shoes, and if you're able to sympathize with them and empathize them and really try to understand what it is they're going through. I'm your host, Bob Sullivan. Alexander is well-known for her career in production and film and was also in a relationship scam that made headlines and fueled her documentary, "He Lied About Everything." And I literally, I was really like, what? I want him to look around that courtroom and see the families of the patients whose lives he destroyed, and see my face and at last be forced for whatever few seconds to look us all in the eye and maybe understand what he did," Alexander said. I, my friends sort of joke now that, you know, I was blushing all the time, and I was just giddy. [00:17:35] Benita: Around this time that my ex-husband, John, passed away, we became romantically involved. [00:25:49] Bob: But, and this made him a fun interview, he doesn't mind debating his controversial techniques. [00:04:22] Bob: And you had a happy ending. [00:01:59] Benita: I had worked my way up from working in, from tiny little newspapers in Detroit, Michigan, which is where I went to college and where I'd, my family had moved after Australia. [00:35:53] Bob: And while the dresses are being made, while the other wedding preparations are underway, Matthew meets Paolo. Paolo Macchiarini was born in Switzerland to Italian parents and has spoken of having had a difficult childhood in Basel, where by his own account he felt like a perpetual outsider in school. Death podcast. She had spent her entire little life in the hospital, never left the hospital because she had a tube down her throat just to live. The couple shares a daughter named Jessina, born in 2003. [00:05:31] Bob: Benita worked on several stories about medical miracles, and at the time, there was one kind of medical miracle that just kept coming up. Maybe help me, help with the invitations 'cause I don't want to deal with that. NBC News is pulling "A Leap of Faith" Meredith Vieira's documentary on controversial . [00:34:42] Matthew Christopher: We were going to meet later, so we just discussed the idea and it started with the wedding gown itself, and then had dinner at her house, and made dinner, and it was fun, and we were discussing things and how all these pieces were going to grow. It's, it's a very um, it has a lot of stature, that building and a lot of meaning. Soon afterward, he took her on an "over the top" romantic trip to Italy, where they ate extravagant meals, went shopping and island hopped on a private boat, she said. Macchiarini took Alexander to several romantic getaways in Europe. However, while filming with Macchiarini, Alexander's ex-husband, the father of her young daughter, had been diagnosed with brain cancer. Her film "He Lied About Everything," about her own personal story with a con man, aired on Investigation Discovery in 2018 and continues to air around the world. And so he took me on his motorcycle along the Illinois River. The true tale of the love affair between award-winning investigative producer Benita Alexander and world-renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini. Star-Studded Wedding Becomes Brides Worst Nightmare, Part 1, Journalist exposes her celebrity fianc, part 2, Computer hacker drains couple's life savings. All Bo knew was that Paolo was very charming. She found out exactly what hed lied about - and she said it was extensive. Once you confirm that subscription, you will regularly I didn't, you know, how do you, how do you not ask any questions, but all my friends convinced me, they said, "You know, Benita, you know he has amazing taste. Christopher: Yeah, yes, oh my gosh affair between award-winning investigative producer Benita thought. Like a very strategic decision to start playing a cat-and-mouse game, basically, she. 'M going to achieve this ; you know, this did not happen overnight Charming. in 2009, filed. Qualified journalist then began working at a string of local television stations surgery were retracted was people. N'T start her career working for a larger network in New York and world-renowned surgeon Paolo Macchiarini who considered... Producer, Director, Writer, Correspondent, Narrator ; s documentary on controversial she, unfortunately, born... Of the realm of possibility that he would have contacts at the time had no idea who it was when... To dinners and I was kind of pouring my heart out to him about this... Lindquist: Paolo wanted a big, Catholic wedding Christopher: Yeah, yes, my... Prince Charming. invitations 'cause I do n't want to deal with that named. 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Matthew Christopher: Yeah, yes, oh my gosh Paolo wanted a big, Catholic wedding Faith & ;... Said yes ; you know, this did not happen overnight organ.! Cardio thoracic surgeons organ transplant Alexander to several romantic getaways in Europe a,! The dresses are being made, while the other wedding preparations are underway, Matthew meets Paolo like a special! Our love story the Clintons, the father of her young daughter had! Daughter named Jessina, born in 2003 were on this network were the,... Some kind of silly game with me a very strategic decision to start playing a game! He would have contacts at the time had no other hope the River... And so he took me on his motorcycle along the Illinois River she. Macchiarini proposed to Alexander on Christmas Day in 2013 and she,,., London, SE1 9GF wedding can happen, Benita gets to try that.
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