Makayla Sault, who refused chemotherapy for leukaemia in favour of alternative treatments, has died

YouTube/Two Row Times    Makayla-Sault, who asked her parents to take her off chemotherapy to pursue ‘traditional’ medicines, has died.

 

Tristin Hopper | January 19, 2015 National Post

Makayla Sault, the 11-year-old First Nations girl who gave up chemotherapy treatment in favour of alternative medicine, has died.

Little scientific, nothing native, about U.S. treatment taken by cancer-stricken aboriginal girls

“We continue to support Makayla’s choice to leave chemotherapy,” wrote Makayla’s family in a statement given to the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation-based Two Row Times. “At this time we request privacy from the media while we mourn this tragic loss.”

Makayla, a member of the New Credit First Nation, was suffering from a unique form of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, the most common form of childhood cancer. Under proper treatment, doctors estimate it has a survivability rate as high as 80% for children.

After 11 weeks of chemotherapy at McMaster Children’s Hospital, however, Makayla opted to eschew further treatment in favour of indigenous remedies and a stay at the Hippocrates Health Institute. The Florida-based alternative health spa claims to treat serious illnesses with lasers, colon hydrotherapy and a strict diet of raw food and wheat grass.

The decision was prompted in part by Makayla’s claim that she had seen a vision of Jesus Christ at her bedside declaring her to be cancer-free.

“I have asked my mom and dad to take me off the treatment because I don’t want to go this way any more,” Makayla said in a recorded statement last spring.

“I asked him, ‘Can you heal me,’ and he said, ‘You are already healed,’ and he held out his hands to me and I saw the holes in his hands and I knew that it was Jesus. And he told me, ‘Do not be afraid.’”

Although the decision was initially challenged by the Brant Children’s Aid Society, Makayla’s file was set aside because “we have to recognize the traditions and the community of First Nations people,” according to director Andy Koster, speaking last May.

At the time, members of local First Nations had formed the Makayla Defence Force, a “peaceful group of men, women and youth who have promised to protect the Sault family and who are ready to peacefully intervene if anyone tries to remove Makayla or her brothers from New Credit First Nation,” said family spokesperson Nahnda Garlow at the time.

In an October Facebook video, Makayla was recorded as saying “I just want to let everyone know that I’m alive and well and that I am healed.”

However, she was reported as being critically ill as early as November. A statement by her parents to the Two Row Times confirmed that she suffered a stroke on Sunday and died on Monday.

The statement claimed that Makayla died of a stroke stemming from her earlier chemotherapy. “Chemotherapy did irreversible damage to her heart and major organs,” it read.

There appears to be little to no clinical precedent for chemotherapy drugs prompting a childhood stroke several months after treatment has ceased.

A stroke could be consistent with leukemia, however. As a blood disease, leukemia can form clots that cause stroke. Oncology sources contacted Monday night by the National Post, however, said that Makayla’s specific cancer is not consistent with a fatal stroke — unless the cancer had spread to her brain.

Last October, during testimony relating to a similar case of a First Nations girl refusing cancer treatment, a representative with the McMaster Children’s Hospital stated that Makayla’s health was taking a turn for the worse.

Monday night, the hospital offered its condolences.

“Everyone who knew Makayla was touched by this remarkable girl. Her loss is heart-breaking. Our deepest sympathy is extended to Makayla’s family,” said a statement by hospital president Peter Fitzgerald.

National Post