This is a very sad and somewhat frightening story of an eleven year old girl from a town in New South Wales, Australia, who was forced to undergo chemotherapy, spleenectomy, months imprisoned in hospital and denied palliative care and family visits; and faced with many other atrocities, simply because an unscrupulous oncologist wanted to experiment with the strongest chemicals he could use. When faced with opposition from the girl and her family, he enlisted the aid of the Department of Community Services, and the actions and threats from the social workers - whom one would expect would be trying to help the family - were so vicious that Sarah's parents could not seek out alternatives without losing their beloved daughter to foster parents. This included several appeals to the Supreme Court too, where the family's legal representatives also let them down.
It is a heartbreaking tale of the courage of a child and the anguish and frustration of the parents and siblings, written by one of the medical team who did finally manage to give some comfort and help at the end. It is extremely well written and factual, and we can only hope that exposing the cruelty and the poor behaviour of government officials and medical specialists will indeed bring about the change that Sarah wished for. Though hard to read because of the emotion it brings to the reader, it is well worth the effort.
