Col Ainscough lost his wife and daughter to cancer. He says Apple Cider Vinegar is 'wildly inaccurate.'

Col Ainscough carries a weight that no parent should ever have to bear.

In 2008, his world shifted as his daughter Jess was diagnosed with a rare epithelioid sarcoma. She was just 23 years old.

While initial chemotherapy showed promise, it couldn't completely eliminate the cancer. When doctors recommended amputating Jess's arm, she made the deeply personal decision to explore alternative treatments.

For a time, it seemed like hope was on their side. But fate had other plans. In 2011, in a cruel twist that would shatter their family further, Col's wife Sharyn received a devastating breast cancer diagnosis.

Following in her daughter's footsteps, Sharyn chose to forgo conventional treatment, instead embracing alternative therapies. It was a choice that Col says he fully supported, understanding the complexity of their decisions.

But the years that followed brought unimaginable loss.

Sharyn passed away in 2013. Then, in a heartbreaking turn of events, Jess's cancer returned the following year. She died in 2015 due to complications from radiation therapy, according to her former partner.

Today, Col is fighting a different battle — one to protect the memory of his beloved daughter from what he sees as Hollywood's distortion of their family's tragedy.

He's spoken out against Netflix's new drama Apple Cider Vinegar, a "true-ish" portrayal of cancer fraudster Belle Gibson's story, calling it an "appalling" and inaccurate depiction of his family.

Watch the trailer for Netflix's Apple Cider Vinegar. Post continues below.

How were Jess Ainscough and her family portrayed in the show?

At the heart of the series is a character named Milla, a bright, fiercely independent young woman who, after being diagnosed with cancer, rejects conventional treatment in favour of a strict natural healing protocol. She's convinced she can cure herself through clean eating, detoxing, and spiritual healing.

The character is based on several people, according to series creator Samantha Strauss. However, actress Alycia Debnam-Carey has said the character is inspired by Jess.

Jess was the original "wellness warrior" and a devotee of Gerson therapy, a food-based protocol that claims to cure all kinds of serious ailments, most famously cancer, with an all-vegetarian organic diet and a strict regime of fruit and vegetable juices and coffee enemas.

In the show, Milla's mother Tamara is also diagnosed with cancer and begins the same alternative treatment. However, unlike Milla, her health quickly declines.

In one poignant scene, Milla's father begs his wife Tamara not to continue the program.

"If I did that, what kind of mother would I be? I let her do it. I took her there," Tamara says in Apple Cider Vinegar, explaining why she won't let up on Gerson therapy despite her declining health.

Alycia Debnam-Carey as Milla in Apple Cider Vinegar. Image: Netflix.

In the show, Milla's father, Joe, is the sceptic.

He watches helplessly as his daughter becomes more and more entrenched in wellness culture, falling under the influence of online gurus who promise miracle cures. He fights her, desperately trying to pull her back to evidence-based medicine. But as Milla's illness progresses, so does her belief that she's on the right path.

Joe pleads with Milla to take her mother to the hospital when she becomes ill, but Milla refuses, believing in the power of alternative remedies. Tamara ultimately dies pursuing these treatments.

By the time Milla realises she might have made the wrong choice for herself, it's too late. She's given three months to live and passes away shortly after. Her death is portrayed as heartbreaking but also frustrating — because, like Joe, the audience is left wondering if things could have turned out differently.

Chanelle McAuliffe was the whistleblower who confronted Belle Gibson, listen to her interview on True Crime Conversations. Story continues below.

Setting the record straight.

Apple Cider Vinegar claims to explore the darker side of alternative health, but for Col, it's mining his family's deepest wounds for entertainment.

He's slammed the show as a cash-grabbing opportunity that spins his family's trauma into a hurtful narrative.

"They have chosen to create a dramatised story in which Jess and my family are inaccurately portrayed," he told The Daily Telegraph.

"I find it insensitive and clearly profit-driven with wildly inaccurate fictional writing about a deeply real and personal tragedy."

Milla and Joe, inspired by Jess Ainscough and her father Col. Image: Netflix.

Col, who has no interest in watching the show but has learned of its inaccuracies, doesn't want his daughter's legacy to be tarnished.

He said Jess had no relationship with Gibson, and it was "appalling" to continually link his daughter to the fraudster.

Col also rejected the portrayal of Milla's father in the show, saying he was neither angry nor oppositional when his daughter and wife opted to try unconventional therapies in their cancer battles.

"I felt Jess had no real option but to seek alternatives and I fully supported her bravery and diligence in doing so," he told The Telegraph.

"I trusted Jess and Sharyn's judgment, knowing they wouldn't take such a decision lightly."

Jess with her father Col. Image: Facebook/Col Ainscough.

Col said he was disappointed the series creators failed to consult him about the show, but were happy to take his personal story for their dramatic narrative.

And he's not the only one to take issue with the show. Jess's former fiancé, Tallon Pamenter, also labelled its representation of Jess as "plain ridiculous and offensive".

"Saying that [Alycia's] Milla character is based on Jess is quite insulting and could not be further from the truth," he told The Australian.

"It's a falsified dramatic fictional portrayal — which isn't surprising, considering none of us were ever consulted for information or fact-checking."

Col and Tallon say the reality of Jess's treatment was much more nuanced than Netflix's dramatic interpretation. Jess wasn't someone who rejected modern medicine outright — she was a young woman making choices about her own body and life.

"She was always open about exploring all types of conventional and holistic medicine," Tallon said.

"In fact, she actually passed due to complications from conventional radiation therapy — not from her cancer spreading, or taking action too late as depicted in the media and in the series."

He added that Milla's more aggressive and naive actions are "inaccurate, frustrating and deeply hurtful."

"The fact that this new series puts a fake cancer fraudster like Gibson — guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct in a court of law — in the same storyline as someone honest and incredible like Jess is a massive insult to her character and her legacy," he told The Australian.

"It's heartbreaking for everyone who knew her."

Mamamia has contacted Col for further comment.

Feature image: Netflix, Facebook/Col Ainscough.