Australian girl flees to London to defy doctors

By BILLY ADAMS in Sydney

An Australian girl with cancer is to flee halfway round the world to defy doctors' demands that she continue with chemotherapy.

Medical authorities took parents Aaron and Deborah Boomsma to court after they refused to put their 5-year-old, Laura, through the painful treatment.

But the legal fight looks all but over after the family decided to go to Britain where Laura will undergo natural therapy.

The case has vivid parallels with that of Liam Williams-Holloway, the young New Zealander who became a national symbol of the tug-of-war between conventional medicine and controversial alternative treatments.

The Otago family went into hiding for four months after authorities sought a court order to force him to continue with chemotherapy.

They eventually went to Mexico where Liam died, aged 5, at an alternative healing clinic in October 2000.

Laura's plight has reignited the debate on the rights of parents to decide what is best for their children.

"There was just one option open to us," said Laura's father, Aaron Boomsma.

"It was chemotherapy or chemotherapy, but that kills every cell in your body, both good and bad.

"We just want the best treatment for Laura and we are determined there will be a success story at the end of this."

The New South Wales girl was diagnosed with a rare tumour in her right kidney in November.

She had chemotherapy before the tumour was removed in January at the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane.

When her parents objected to post-operative chemotherapy, designed to keep the cancer in remission, the hospital took them to Queensland's Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, the hospital's legal team requested an adjournment to consider evidence submitted by the family's lawyer, Jason Richards, supporting their claims.

But the Boomsmas had already decided to leave Australia.

Unable to compel Laura to stay, the court ordered that proceedings come to an end if the family left Australia within seven days.

Richards said the parents were "ecstatic".

"The well-being of the child should always be paramount. If the parents can show there is an alternative form of treatment which is as good as the chemotherapy and with possibly less side effects, you've got to go with that," he said.

Although the hospital would not comment because the matter was still technically before the court, district manager Dr Alan Isles said requesting treatment orders would never be taken lightly.

Advice would be taken from experts before a decision was made on the best option.

Laura is due to fly to London in the next few days, so the legal arguments are likely only to be tested by a future case.

The youngster will attend an independent clinic where she will be given high doses of intravenous vitamin C with dendritic cell therapy, a process designed to stimulate white blood cells to destroy cancerous cells.