A man whose mother falsely claimed he had serious illnesses as a young boy says part of his childhood was stolen from him.
Lisa Hayden-Johnson from Brixham won public sympathy for her fight for Matthew Johnson's medical care after claiming he was unable to walk, eat or breathe without assistance. She was jailed in 2010 for three years and three months for putting him through unnecessary treatment.
She has now taken part in a Channel 4 documentary, as has her son, his sister Laura, doctors from Torbay and police who investigated.
Johnson, now 25, said: "I do think that my childhood was taken from me and that's something that you can't go back to, so it is difficult to process."
He told the BBC: "You can't really fathom it, it's a really difficult thing to explain. It's such an extraordinary situation.
"I think it definitely impacted me, it's such a key stage of development."
He was born prematurely and fed with a breathing tube before making a full recovery, but his mother insisted he was still unwell for the next six years until a doctor raised the alarm.
She received gifts from charities and took her son to collect an award at Downing Street, where they met the then prime minister Tony Blair. Matthew was also introduced to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Johnson said his mother had a condition known as fabrication induced illness by proxy.
He said: "It feels that so many things were declared wrong with me, it was hard to identify with one of them."
He moved away from Devon when he was eight and is now settled in Chesterfield.
He told the BBC he did not remember feeling unwell but had "quite of lot of medication" and even underwent surgery.
He said his mother said he had difficulty breathing, and added: "There were times she said I was damaged by sunlight and had to wear special glasses and when I needed mobility support, whether a stroller a walker or a wheelchair".
He said the illnesses he was said to have "seemed contradictory".
"It felt like a trail of different ones, there wasn't anything that seemed permanent."
He said participating in the documentary Love You To Death, which also features medics from NHS Torbay, social workers and Devon police, helped as he "gained a lot of useful information that I didn't actually know".
Johnson said hearing his mother's comments on the documentary confirmed he had made the correct decision to cut ties with her.
He has not been in touch with her for two years and said it "puts it to rest that I've made the right decision for me and my future".
Man Says Childhood Stolen by Mother’s Fake Illness Claims