May 19, 2009 11:05 pm US/Central
Father Talks About Missing Son With Cancer
SLEEPY EYE, Minn. (WCCO) ―
-
-
Daniel Hauser, of Sleepy Eye, and his parents are fighting efforts by Brown County officials to force him to undergo chemotherapy. The family says that would violate their religious beliefs.
CBS
Police are looking for a Minnesota teenager who doctors say could die if he's not given proper treatment for cancer soon. Daniel Hauser and his mother, Colleen, missed a mandatory court hearing on Tuesday, which means there's a warrant out for Colleen's arrest.
Daniel's father, Anthony Hauser, said he doesn't know where they are.
"If you're going to get proper care versus just running away, that's two different things," said Hauser.
Doctors say it's urgent Daniel is found because he told them the pain in his chest from cancer is a 10 out of 10.
Anthony Hauser said he was no idea where Daniel and Colleen went and he has no way of contacting them. He said he has no way to reach them because they didn't take any of their cars and his wife left her cell phone on the kitchen table.
"I would say it's been kind of a blur today," said Anthony.
It was around 6 p.m. Monday when Anthony was milking cows on the farm when he says his wife stopped by only for about 5 seconds.
"She said she was in a hurry and she was going to leave for a little while," he said.
Anthony said that Colleen didn't say why she was leaving, where she was going or even that she was taking Daniel with her.
He didn't tell anyone until neither Daniel nor Colleen showed up for Tuesday morning's hearing at the Brown County Courthouse. The family was due in court to report the results of a chest X-ray and their arrangements for an oncologist.
"It's a little hard for me to believe that she would get in a car, leave at night and he continues milking and he has no knowledge of where they are," said Brown County Attorney Jim Olson.
In court on Tuesday, Daniel's doctor testified that the boy was in pain because his tumor was getting bigger. They took an X-ray on Monday and it had shown that the tumor had grown in just 18 days.
The doctor testified that without treatment there is a 95 percent chance that Daniel will die within five years.
"I am really angry. I'm very angry that Daniel isn't here," said Philip Elbert,
Daniel's court-appointed attorney who had pushed for the family to choose Daniel's treatment.
He now says the mother and son should come home.
Daniel's father said that it is OK that they left, if she's getting Daniel to a doctor on his own terms.
"If she went to get care for him, if it's good care then I say, I don't know, it's the right thing to do. I mean it's better than just running," said Anthony.
Anthony said that he is not opposed to chemotherapy, he just doesn't like the protocol that Daniel's doctors set. He hopes that his wife, Colleen, is taking Daniel to an oncologist for a less intense round of chemo combined with some alternative medicines. His father said that he hopes Daniel will receive treatment that won't hurt his body.
Daniel's lymphoma was diagnosed in January, and six rounds of chemotherapy were recommended. Daniel underwent one round in February but stopped after that single treatment. He and his parents sought other opinions, but the doctors agreed with the initial assessment.
The arrest warrant has been distributed nationwide and a crime alert was being issued to businesses around the country, Brown County Sheriff Rich Hoffman said. He said investigators were following some leads, but declined to elaborate.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
