Every time I see a story like this, it makes me sick:
WESTON, Wis. (AP) — Police are investigating an 11-year-old girl’s death from an undiagnosed, treatable form of diabetes after her parents chose to pray for her rather than take her to a doctor.
An autopsy showed Madeline Neumann died Sunday from diabetic ketoacidosis, a condition that left too little insulin in her body, Everest Metro Police Chief Dan Vergin said.
She had probably been ill for about a month, suffering symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, loss of appetite and weakness, the chief said Wednesday, noting that he expects to complete the investigation by Friday and forward the results to the district attorney.
The girl’s mother, Leilani Neumann, said the family believes in the Bible and that healing comes from God, but she said they do not belong to an organized religion or faith, are not fanatics and have nothing against doctors.
She insisted her youngest child, a wiry girl known to wear her straight brown hair in a ponytail, was in good health until recently.
“We just noticed a tiredness within the past two weeks,” she said Wednesday. “And then just the day before and that day (she died), it suddenly just went to a more serious situation. We stayed fast in prayer then. We believed that she would recover. We saw signs that to us, it looked like she was recovering.”
Her daughter — who hadn’t seen a doctor since she got some shots as a 3-year-old, according to Vergin — had no fever and there was warmth in her body, she said.
Did it ever occur to these people that a doctor might actually have helped their daughter ?
March 28th, 2008 at 9:46 am
If you read the story closely, you can see that this could happen to any family. Lots of people get sick and don’t rush to the doctor - when their symptoms don’t seem much more than a meal gone bad - or something they’ve caught whilst at the supermarket. Especially when they then display signs of getting better.
Let’s be honest. The real difference here is, the words “we prayed”.
While this article is carefully worded to not paint the parents as backward, looney, fanatics… The title link to this story states: “Irresponsible parents let child die”. Yet the article itself says NOTHING that gives that impression. In fact, it states the investigation is not even complete so no decision has been made. But oh yeah - that’s right - the parents PRAYED.
What am I talking about?
For goodness sake, how many teenagers today did not tell their parents how they were feeling!? If nothing had been said about praying and the article had only said these parents had stated:
“We’re devastated. Our daughter merely seemed a little out of sorts, and we’ve all had far worse before from a common cold. If only we’d realised something so small could kill. If it happened to us it could happen to anyone.”
Sure, some people would then think, “How could you miss it?” and others would say, “Those poor people. That could just as easily been us and our daughter.”
But no…
Because they PRAY, suddenly they must be HEARTLESS, EVIL, ODDBALL, FANATICS whoose only plan in having offspring (and feeding and clothing them for a decade) is so they can later murder them by deliberately withholding medical treatment.
The reactions above that someone has upon reading this article, speaks volumes on that reader’s own HEARTLESS, EVIL, ODDBALL, FANATICAL BIAS than it ever could about what is most likely an unfortunate mistake. But what is even more sad and pathetic are those who think that way immediately upon reading only the HEADLINE, go on to read the article with that bias set in stone, even after finding no evidence in the article to support their own arrogant phobia.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Are not fanatics?
Believing that prayer can alter reality qualifies you as a fanatic.
March 28th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
They did make a mistake not going to a doctor after allowing their daughter to sit through those symptoms as long as they did. I certainly believe prayer can help, but God made humans an active, rather than passive, people. God works through people. To just sit on their hands like that does not necessarily make them fanatics, but it does make them negligent. Allan, I see where you are coming from, but any family that waits TWO WEEKS (potentially more, as the article states) to get their daughter help needs to take a long hard look at their own attitudes.
hoobie, I generally find it hard to take such a view as yours seriously. Fanatics you say? Well, I would be very interested to see your proof that prayer is ineffective, because I am yet to hear any so far. Please, if I had a nickel for every time I heard someone suggest that they have some sort of scientific basis in criticizing religion when it is really just their own emotion speaking, I could retire now, just a few short years out of college.
March 28th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
CR,
Given a choice between only prayer and only a doctor, I’d choose the second.
The idea that religious faith requires one to ignore medical science is, quite honestly, insanity.
It’s on a par with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Believe that blood transfusions are sinful if you wish, but don’t subject your children to that sham
March 28th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Geez, apparently, I must have forgotten to write the first half of that response.
Oh wait, I didn’t.
And you don’t have to choose, you can have both.
Come on Doug, are you arguing just to argue?
March 30th, 2008 at 12:26 am
The only thing I can say in the parent’s defense, (and I am not defending what they did at all), our daughter (8) was just diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. She had these very same symptoms. I took her to the Dr. from Thanksgiving until Jan 17. It took that long to diagnose her with Diabetes. There would be days she would be really sick and then days and weeks that she would be good. Her symptoms did take a turn over 2 days and I insisted they test her again for Diabetes after googling her symptoms and coming up with Ketoacidosis (what this little girl died from). I’m thankful we pushed our Dr or this could have been our little girl.
April 1st, 2008 at 3:31 am
Allan says”If you read the story closely, you can see that this could happen to any family. Lots of people get sick and don’t rush to the doctor ”
FYI - My son is a type 1 diabetic. He is 13 and was diagnosed at the age of 3. When a diabetic goes into ketoacidosis, he/she has symptoms that would make ANY responsible, caring parent take their child to the doctor, possibly the emergency room. In 10 years since my son’s diagnosis, he has not gone into ketoacidosis because we know what we are doing and I am anal, but ketoacidosis causes nausea, vomiting, rapid breathing and eventually coma and death. My sister, also type 1 has been in ketoacidosis twice and AS SOON AS she exhibited symptoms, she was taken to the E.R. This CAN be treated and people live with type 1 diabetes EVERYDAY….that is what makes this so tragic. It WAS preventable! Extreme thirst and frequent urination prompted me to ask my doc to test my son when he was 3 because these were noticeable, so if a child is vomiting, very thirsty, tired, losing weight, a parent should wake the BLANK up. Ketoacidosis does not happen in a couple of hours…this girl had been sick for days or even weeks. These moronic parents NEED to be indicted on charges of manslaughter. I am not concerned about their religion…this is child neglect. They are not fit to take care of their other children if they are against medical care. (Then again…IF they had taken their daughter to the doc and found out she had type 1 diabetes, they probably would have been opposed to her being given insulin and would have prayed that the beta cells in her pancreas would magically regenerate!)Who would watch their child go into a coma and not call 911? (The aunt called. Not the mother)
The mother needs her tubes tied and both parents need to be locked up and have their other children live with suitable, caring, intelligent guardians who believe in seeing doctors!
As far as pushing your doctor, yes, YOU have to be your child’s voice. When I hear about a child dying from type 1 diabetes whether not yet diagnosed OR already diagnosed, it breaks my heart.
By the way..”A little out of sorts” is not the condition ANYONE would be in while in ketoacidosis, so whoever said that has their head far up their rear!