Mum injected faeces into IV line of son with cancer

Doctors said the boy tested positive for blood cultures with organisms normally found in faeces. Photo / Getty Images

An Indiana mother has been arrested for allegedly injecting feces into her 15-year-old son's IV bag while he was undergoing cancer treatment.

Tiffany Alberts, 41, of Wolcott has been charged with six counts of aggravated battery and one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury.

Alberts' son, who is not named, was being treated at Riley Hospital for Children for leukemia and officers were called to the facility for possible child abuse last Thursday, according to WXIN.

After the teen had several unexplained infections that were delaying his treatment, hospital staff placed a surveillance camera in his room, court documents state.

The surveillance video allegedly showed the mother-of-five injecting an unknown substance with a syringe into her son's IV bag on several different occasions.

Hospital staff told investigators the teen had received his first round of chemotherapy in September and was sent home.

However, he returned days later with a fever and was experiencing diarrhea and vomiting, according to court documents.

Staff noted his symptoms had not improved and he subsequently had to undergo several surgeries and spent 18 days in the intensive care unit, documents show.

Doctors told investigators the boy tested positive for blood cultures with organisms normally found in feces and that he could have died from any of the septic shock episodes caused from the fecal matter in his blood.

In a police interview, Alberts initially told investigators she had injected water into her son's IV bag to 'flush the line' because the medicine he was given 'burned.'

However, she later confessed she had injected fecal matter into the IV bag in the hopes of getting her son moved to another unit that had better treatment, according to court documents.

Once Alberts was removed from her son's hospital room, his health improved, documents state.

However, doctors expressed concern they may have missed their window to keep the boy's leukemia in remission and that he could die from leukemia due to the prolonged delay in treatment, according to court documents.

Alberts, who is listed as a special education teacher on her Facebook page, and her family has suffered several tragedies over the years.

In May, she lost her husband Jason Alberts before her teen son, who has a mild form of autism, was diagnosed with leukemia in July.

He has been in treatment at Riley Hospital for Children since July 26, according to the Herald Journal.

Alberts' 13-year-old daughter was diagnosed with follicular adnexal carcinoma cancer that was removed this spring.

She is back to normal after her surgery was a success.

Earlier this month, a benefit was held by the Remington Fire Department to help support the Alberts family and the tragedies they have endured over the years.