FATHER OF 2 YEAR OLD WITH STAGE 4 LATE STAGE CANCER FACING JAIL TIME FOR USING CANNABIS OIL TO ALLEVIATE CHILD'S PAIN AND SUFFERING
Adam Koessler with Rumer Rose. Photo by Facebook.
The father of a 2-year-old with late-stage cancer is facing jail
time for using cannabis oil in an attempt to ease his daughter’s suffering.
When Adam Koessler’s 2-year-old daughter, Rumer Rose, was
diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma recently, he began supplementing her chemo
treatments with doses of cannabis oil, seeing “amazing” results.
Still,
Koessler lives in Australia, where medical marijuana is illegal, and he was
arrested Jan. 2 for his efforts. He was released on bail but now faces charges
for possessing dangerous drugs and for supplying them to a minor, and is due
back in court on Friday.
The situation has outraged thousands around the world
who have signed online petitions and raised money in support of the single dad.
“He is a father doing whatever possible to save his child… let
him go,” writes one of nearly 114,000 supporters on a Change.org petition to drop Koessler’s charges and legalize
medical marijuana. Says another, “If the law states that this man cannot give
his terminally ill… daughter something that improves her quality of life, than
the law needs to be changed. The fact that this man has had his parental rights
taken away by an ignorant legal system that has absolutely no right to do so absolutely
disgusts me."
On Christmas Eve, Rumer was diagnosed with stage-4 neuroblastoma
— a pediatric cancer that develops from immature nerve cells — according to
Koessler, who shared details of his story on a GoFundMe page he
set up to help with his daughter’s care. (Koessler could not be reached for
comment by Yahoo Parenting.) Doctors proposed 12 months of chemotherapy, while
Rumer’s father and mother (who are not a couple) began a complementary therapy
of naturopathic medicine, gluten-free meals, and medical-grade cannabis oil
which has been used around the world with varying success rates to treat
conditions from ulcers and migraines to cancer and epilepsy.
While the notion
of treating children with marijuana remains controversial, Koessler says the
oil worked wonders. “The results were amazing,” he writes. “What we saw when Rumer
was given the medical cannabis oil what nothing short of miraculous. Her cancer
ridden little body was alive again — Rumer had almost instant quality of
life…Her skin color came back, her eyes were sparkling again…We were certain
after seeing these results that her recovery was entirely possible.”
Medicinal marijuana is banned in Australia, though the leader of
the state of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, has said he wants to make it legal there by the end of 2015.
After Koessler’s arrest at a Brisbane hospital, where Rumer is
being treated, he was told a condition of his bail was that he could not see
his daughter; that was changed on Jan. 16, according to the Brisbane Times. Local supporters are planning a protest for
February, while thousands continue to support the family online through Change.org, various
Facebook pages, and two GoFundMe pages, for Rumer’s care
and for her
dad’s legal fees, which have raised more than $15,000 and nearly $4,000
respectively.
On Jan. 9, Rumer was
moved to the hospital’s intensive care unit after having seizures.
In the
meantime, note administrators of Koessler’s Fearless Father page on Facebook, “We
want to say thank you to all of the amazing people who are supporting Adam,
sending him hundreds of personal messages of support, showing your support on
this page. All of that positive is helping Adam to stay calm and believe
that good will come of all of this. This is a fight that will make a difference
for so many people around Australia and the world.”
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