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Marco Pedersen plans to be on Parliament Hill Monday, collecting signatures from people who support his efforts to treat the cancer afflicting his 18-month-old son, Aiden, with hemp oil rather than chemotherapy.
And the 23-year-old Vanier man plans to be there every day until authorities agree to his wishes. “I’m going to get as many signatures from people as I can,” Pedersen said. “This ain’t right.”
Aiden was diagnosed with leukemia last week and doctors at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario wanted to begin chemotherapy immediately.
When Pedersen and his 20-year-old wife, Erica O’Laney, refused, CHEO notified the Ottawa Children’s Aid Society. The hospital is obliged by law to do so whenever it believes parents are putting their child at risk by refusing a standard medical treatment.
Under pressure, O’Laney backed down and agreed to chemotherapy. Pedersen continues to refuse, though, and has been cut out of any say about his son’s treatment.
Pedersen said Sunday he has been deluged with support since reports appeared about the case in the Citizen and other media.
“It’s just overwhelming, the support I’ve been shown,” he said. “I’ve been getting support from all over the globe. I’ve had people from Florida calling, saying, ‘Keep hanging in there.’ “
Some of the support has been tangible. An anonymous benefactor shipped Pedersen 60 grams of hemp oil, enough, he said, for a full treatment for his son. The oil would have cost him $2,000.
“Someone just gave my kid life. Now I just need to get them to let me give it to my kid.”
So far, no one has contacted him to criticize his stance, Pedersen said.
“I’ve been surprised. I figured a lot of people were going to be calling me up, telling me that I’m an idiot. I’ve been waiting, because I’ve got enough facts in my notepads to sink a battleship about this stuff.”
Though conventional treatments of childhood leukemia are now highly successful, with five-year survival rates of 80 per cent or more, Pedersen insisted that’s not true of toddlers like his son. “For children under two, the survival rate with chemo is 30 to 40 per cent,” he said.
Pedersen went to Parliament Hill Sunday, hoping to start his petition. But police told him to leave after he started approaching people to solicit signatures.
“They told me not to go up to people and asked if I’d leave the property for the day,” Pedersen said. But he’ll be back Monday carrying a couple of signs, which police told him would be OK.
“They told me I can come back as long as I don’t walk up to people. If they walk up to me first, that’s completely fine.”
Pedersen is convinced the hemp oil treatment — even if it follows a period of chemotherapy — offers Aiden his best chance of survival.
“I’m kind of sorry that it’s marijuana and everybody hates it,” he said. “But if that’s what’s giving him a fighting chance, he should get it.”
Though such situations are rare, there have been other cases in Canada, the United States and abroad where children with cancer or their parents have refused chemotherapy.
Earlier this year, Ontario Children’s Aid officials closed their investigation into the family of a First Nations girl who wanted to treat her cancer with native medicine rather than chemotherapy.
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
And the 23-year-old Vanier man plans to be there every day until authorities agree to his wishes. “I’m going to get as many signatures from people as I can,” Pedersen said. “This ain’t right.”
Aiden was diagnosed with leukemia last week and doctors at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario wanted to begin chemotherapy immediately.
When Pedersen and his 20-year-old wife, Erica O’Laney, refused, CHEO notified the Ottawa Children’s Aid Society. The hospital is obliged by law to do so whenever it believes parents are putting their child at risk by refusing a standard medical treatment.
Under pressure, O’Laney backed down and agreed to chemotherapy. Pedersen continues to refuse, though, and has been cut out of any say about his son’s treatment.
Pedersen said Sunday he has been deluged with support since reports appeared about the case in the Citizen and other media.
“It’s just overwhelming, the support I’ve been shown,” he said. “I’ve been getting support from all over the globe. I’ve had people from Florida calling, saying, ‘Keep hanging in there.’ “
Some of the support has been tangible. An anonymous benefactor shipped Pedersen 60 grams of hemp oil, enough, he said, for a full treatment for his son. The oil would have cost him $2,000.
“Someone just gave my kid life. Now I just need to get them to let me give it to my kid.”
So far, no one has contacted him to criticize his stance, Pedersen said.
“I’ve been surprised. I figured a lot of people were going to be calling me up, telling me that I’m an idiot. I’ve been waiting, because I’ve got enough facts in my notepads to sink a battleship about this stuff.”
Though conventional treatments of childhood leukemia are now highly successful, with five-year survival rates of 80 per cent or more, Pedersen insisted that’s not true of toddlers like his son. “For children under two, the survival rate with chemo is 30 to 40 per cent,” he said.
Pedersen went to Parliament Hill Sunday, hoping to start his petition. But police told him to leave after he started approaching people to solicit signatures.
“They told me not to go up to people and asked if I’d leave the property for the day,” Pedersen said. But he’ll be back Monday carrying a couple of signs, which police told him would be OK.
“They told me I can come back as long as I don’t walk up to people. If they walk up to me first, that’s completely fine.”
Pedersen is convinced the hemp oil treatment — even if it follows a period of chemotherapy — offers Aiden his best chance of survival.
“I’m kind of sorry that it’s marijuana and everybody hates it,” he said. “But if that’s what’s giving him a fighting chance, he should get it.”
Though such situations are rare, there have been other cases in Canada, the United States and abroad where children with cancer or their parents have refused chemotherapy.
Earlier this year, Ontario Children’s Aid officials closed their investigation into the family of a First Nations girl who wanted to treat her cancer with native medicine rather than chemotherapy.
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
