Acts of Faith

Mary Rogan's article, Acts of Faith, details the tragic story of Tyrell Dueck, a thirteen-year-old boy from Martensville, a small town just outside Saskatoon. Tyrell was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, one of the most deadly forms of cancer imaginable. Despite this, Dr. Mpofu, the oncologist in charge of Tyrell's case, believed that there was a good chance that Tyrell would survive if his leg was amputated. Shockingly, Tyrell spoke up, saying that he didn't want his leg to be amputated. This began a series of furious legal battles over the guardianship of Tyrell. It was believed that Tyrell's father, Tim, a man of strong religious beliefs, was influencing his son's decision. During this legal battle Tyrell was diagnosed with cancer in his lungs, reducing his chances of survival to fifteen percent at best. The Duecks were finally allowed to pursue alternative medicine at a clinic called American Biologics, located in Tijuana, Mexico. After a week at American Biologics, the clinic announced that Tyrell's lungs were cancer-free. Despite this, Dr. Mpofu stands by his original diagnosis. Only time will tell who is correct.

Numerous times in the article, Mary Rogan reflects on how she would handle the same situation that the Duecks are in. This personal reflection encourages the reader to question themselves as to what they would do. Early in the article, Mary Rogan reflects, "Here in Toronto, reading about Tyrell, I thought about my own eight-year-old son, about what I would do if he had cancer and how it would feel to have him taken away from me, either by cancer or by the government." Tyrell's case is perfect example of a conflict of interests. His death was preventable, yet it was necessary to tear his family apart in order to save him. No parent would want their child taken away from them, but at the same time, they want to protect him as much as they possibly can. I can only imagine how difficult that decision to halt chemotherapy treatments would be, both for Tyrell and his parents, and I fervently hope that I will never have to make that decision, either for myself or any children that I might have.

Instead of chemotherapy, Tyrell's family pursued alternative medicine as
treatment for Tyrell's cancer, which led them to American Biologics. Although affordable, American Biologics engages in many different forms of medical treatment, ranging from plausible to downright ludicrous. A quotation about one of the procedures terrified me. "Hyperthermia, a procedure proposed to the Duecks, involves heating a patient's blood to 108 degrees for sixty to ninety minutes." In addition to being almost sadistic in nature, hyperthermia costs about $10,000. However, according to Mary Rogan, this is relatively cheap in the world of cancer treatments, where treatments at some of the best cancer centres in the world can cost up to $100,000. This raises the question of equality. Why should a person be forced to turn to unsuccessful treatments simply because of a lack of money? It is my view that every person should be given an equal chance to survive cancer, regardless of their financial situation. Cancer treatment is very expensive, and it is unfortunate that so much talent and resources are wasted on the few patients that can pay for the best medical treatment, while the majority of people are denied the best treatments.

Many of the doctors at the Cancer Centre in Saskatoon were hurt by the Duecks' decision to
pursue medical treatment elsewhere. In Dr. Mpofu's words, "There's no consolation here. When you know that you did everything that could have been done, you always feel better. If we have given the child the best treatment that we have and it fails...well, at least we have that consolation. It softens the blow." After doing further research, I learned that Tyrell had in fact succumbed to cancer and passed away later that summer. Although I suspected that Tyrell had died, it was still a shock to first learn of his death. It is a true tragedy that more couldn't be done for him. Instead of acting quickly and decisively to give Tyrell a good chance of survival, doctors and health officials were forced to watch as the Dueck family wasted over $65,000, much of which was donated, on quack medical practices at American Biologics. Of course, all of this could have been prevented if we had produced an effective cure for cancer. Stories such as Tyrell Dueck's serve to remind us of the devastation that cancer can wreak on a family, and how we must devote more resources to finding a cure for this terrible
disease.