Amish family flees to avoid girl's chemotherapy

A 10 year-old Amish girl and her family have fled their home town so the girl won't be forced to have treatment for her leukaemia.

Amish family flees to avoid girl's chemotherapy Amish_ladies_374_199g0md-199g0ot.jpg?x=292&sig=xZqhstI

Amish family flees to avoid girl's chemotherapy Amish_ladies_374_199g0md-199g0ot.jpg?x=292&sig=xZqhstI

Associated Press reports that Sarah Hershberger was receiving chemotherapy treatment. But her family has been fighting the hospital in court to get the treatment stopped because it was making her ill.

The family left their home in rural north-east Ohio just days before a state appeals court appointed a guardian in October to take over medical decisions for Sarah, said attorney Maurice Thompson.

Mr Thompson said the family was worried Sarah would be taken away.

Doctors at Akron Children's Hospital believe Sarah's leukemia is treatable, but say she will die without chemotherapy.

The hospital went to court after the Hershbergers decided to stop chemotherapy and treat Sarah with natural medicines, such as herbs and vitamins.

An appeals court ruling in October gave an attorney - who is also a registered nurse - limited guardianship over Sarah and the power to make medical decisions for her.

The court said the beliefs and convictions of the Hershbergers cannot outweigh the rights of the state to protect the child.

The family has appealed the decision to both the appeals court and the Ohio Supreme Court. They also plan to file a motion to terminate the guardianship.

They have not had any contact with the guardian since the ruling, said Clair Dickinson, the guardian's attorney.

A taxi was sent to the family's home nearly two months ago after the guardian was appointed to take the Sarah to the hospital in Akron, but someone at the home said the family was not there, Dickinson said.

There were no plans to ask the court to find the family or force the girl into chemotherapy while the case is being appealed.

Sarah's last known chemotherapy session had been in June, and doctors have said she could die within a year if treatments do not resume.

"I'm very concerned about her," Dickinson said.

The girl has undergone alternative-therapy treatments and is doing well, Mr Thompson said. The family told him that she has more energy and that CT scans show the treatments are working.

Mr Thompson, who leads the libertarian 1851 Center for Constitutional Law in Ohio, said he believes that the case is an example of the courts trampling on the rights of parents and freedom to refuse medical treatment.

Amish family flees to avoid girl's chemotherapy

Amish family flees to avoid girl's chemotherapy

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