In more heartbreaking news this holidays season, six-year-old Oshin Kiszko has passed away after battling cancer for almost a year on December 28.
While, sadly, many men, women and children are told they have cancer every day, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Oshin’s cancer diagnosis…
After being diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer in 2015 and having surgery in an attempt to remove it, doctors recommended that Oshin should undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
It was then that his parents, Angela Kiszko and Adrian Strachan, refused permission for the treatments as they believed it was diminish Oshin’s quality of life.
The parents wanted to explore alternative therapies, and argued that palliative care would be more appropriate for the sick six-year-old.
Oshin’s parents then took their son’s doctors to court, with the Family Court ruling that the boy, in fact, should undergo chemotherapy.
In May this year, the case returned to court again with doctors urging Oshin’s parents to let him have radiation treatment, stressing that he would have a 30 to 50 per cent chance of surviving if he had both chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
But, as reported by the ABC, by September, the court granted Oshins’ parents’ wish: from that moment on, the sick youngster would only receive palliative care.
“I am deeply concerned that any perpetuation of the conflict over Oshin’s treatment will continue to diminish the ability of his parents to focus their energies solely on the provision of that support and love directly to him when he needs it most,” he said in September.
Our thoughts are with Oshin’s family and friends during this difficult time.
