An alternative medicine devotee will spend six months behind bars for causing his sick daughter brain damage by refusing to take her to hospital.
The Brisbane District Court was told on Tuesday the 11-year-old had been suffering from a heart infection for two weeks before her 45-year-old father finally took her to hospital.
She was gravely ill when she was admitted to Toowoomba Base Hospital in September 2006.
Her temperature was 42 degrees celsius, she had been hallucinating and was weak, pale and could no longer walk.
The court was told her mouth was peeling, black and clogged from the alternative medicine her father had been giving her in extremely high doses.
The doctor who finally examined the 11-year-old said in a report the girl was as "sick as the sickest person I've ever seen in 35 years".
Prosecutor Belinda Merrin said it was the father's distrust of conventional medicine that had caused him to delay seeking treatment.
Instead, he had been relying on the glyconutrient dietary supplement Mannatech to cure his daughter.
A psychologist report tendered in court said the father's belief in Mannatech bordered on "obsessive" and that he had an "exaggerated view of his own knowledge and ability" about health treatments.
He had been giving her so much Mannatech it had stuck to her teeth and clogged her mouth.
The father also suffered impaired judgment because of a brain injury he suffered in the mid-1990s.
The court was told the girl's mother asked him on a number of occasions to seek medical treatment, but had not pushed the issue for fear her estranged partner would deny her access to her children.
When the girl was admitted to hospital she underwent an emergency heart bypass and valve replacement.
She spent some time in a coma after surgery because of bleeding on the brain, and it was a year before she was eventually allowed to go home.
She now uses a wheelchair and has reduced vision and severe, ongoing cognitive and fine motor skills.
The court was told she may never walk unaided again.
The father pleaded guilty to one count of grievous bodily harm.
He was sentenced to three years' jail, but will be released on parole after serving six months.
The mother has pleaded guilty to a charge of child cruelty.
She was sentenced to 12 months' jail but release immediately on parole.
None of the family members can be identified.
Front page
National home
RSS Feed