Mother of 11-year-old aboriginal girl speaks out

The mother of an 11-year-old aboriginal girl who has leukemia spoke out for the very first time after an Ontario judge ruled they have the right to choose traditional and alternative treatment over chemotherapy.

Over a hundred family and community members gathered at Six Nations Polytechnic to celebrate Friday’s decision to allow the little girl’s family to pursue traditional medicine instead of chemotherapy. The little girl’s mother says she can now concentrate on her daughter’s health.

“I lived in a lot of stress up until that moment. I really wasn’t sure which way the case was going to go,” said the little girl’s mother, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban. “I knew in my heart which way it should go, but once it was announced dismissed I was beyond happy.”

The girl was undergoing chemotherapy at Mcmaster’s Children Hospital. Doctors said she stood a 95 per cent chance of survival with chemotherapy and without it, they say she will die, but the girl’s mother pulled her out of treatment back in August.

“After witnessing what pain and agony my daughter experienced on just a few days of chemotherapy, I knew it wasn’t right,” said the girl’s mother.

Her decision prompted Hamilton Health Sciences to ask Brant Children’s Aid Society to intervene, but when they didn’t the hospital took the case to court.

The girl is currently receiving treatment at Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida at a cost of $18,000. It is there that Brian Clement teaches patients to have a positive attitude and eat raw and organic vegetables. It is the same place where another native girl with leukemia — Makayala Sault was treated, but doctors say she has since relapsed.

For Six Nations Chief Ava Hill, Friday’s decision shows there is still acknowledgement that canada understands its agreement with the aboriginal community. “It is just the beginning. It is important because the court has recognized that we have the inherit right to use our own traditional medicines, which we have done anyways,” says Hill. “Now they don’t have to live in fear that their children will be apprehended.”

Members of the aboriginal community say Mcmaster Children’s Hospital sought to undermine their cultural practices. and they are happy with the judge’s decision. “We challenged the status quo and in doing so with the assistance of legal counsel… the court ruled a landmark decision that is going to affect First Nations families and children across Canada, says Sally Rivers, director of Aboriginal Services for Brant Family and Children’s Services.

The little girl’s mother says she has never ruled out a return to chemotherapy, but doctors have said that the longer they wait, the less likely recovery will be.