Aboriginal girl with leukemia dies after refusing chemo

Posted: Published on January 20th, 2015

This post was added by Dr Simmons

Makayla Sault, the Ojibwa girl who refused chemotherapy last year in favour of indigenous medicine, died on Monday, with her parents reportedly blaming modern treatment for their daughters death.

The Two Row Times reported that the New Credit girl suffered a stroke Sunday morning. In a statement to the paper, her family said: Chemotherapy did irreversible damage to her heart and major organs. This was the cause of the stroke.

Makayla was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia last January. She refused chemotherapy at McMaster Childrens Hospital after 12 weeks, opting for indigenous medicine and other alternative therapies, despite the high likelihood she would have been cured through modern treatment.

Surrounded by the love and support of her family, her community and her nation on Monday, January 19 at 1:50 PM, in her 12th year, Makayla completed her course. She is now safely in the arms of Jesus, reads her familys statement. Makayla was on her way to wellness, bravely fighting toward holistic well-being after the harsh side effects that 12 weeks of chemotherapy inflicted on her body.

She was the first of two Ontario First Nations girl to reject chemotherapy to treat her leukemia. She was a trailblazer, Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation Chief Bryan LaForme told the Hamilton Spectator. She sent out a strong message that you as an individual can make your own choices.

The parents of the second girl, who cannot be named due to a publication ban, won a precedent-setting court case in November when Ontario Court Justice Gethin Edward ruled that aboriginal parents have a constitutionally protected right to choose traditional forms of treatment for children.

McMaster Childrens Hospital had been trying to get Brant Family and Childrens Services to force the girl into chemotherapy. McMaster did not appeal the ruling. Last week, that girls family said she is now cancer-free.

In a statement to the Two Row Times, the girls family said of Makayla: Condolences to her mother, father, brothers and the families on each side. We mourn your loss. I offer you strength to endure through your dark time. That one day you can adjust to the loss in your family circle.

Brant Family and Childrens Services investigated Makaylas case, but did not intervene, with executive director Andrew Koster telling the Spectator: We feel Makayla is in a loving, caring home and that they are carrying on with medicine that would be very appropriate for her family.

Makayla said that chemotherapy was killing my body in a letter she read out on a video uploaded to YouTube last year. She had been suffering from the side effects including constant vomiting and weakness.

Link:
Aboriginal girl with leukemia dies after refusing chemo

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