(Editor’s note: We are in touch with Nick’s mom Candace and will have an update very soon.)
Nick Gundersen, 13, is receiving court-ordered chemotherapy at NYU Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, New York after being diagnosed by doctors with acute leukemia in June of 2018. However, he’s also receiving chemo even though he was given a clean bill of health by doctors. Oh, and he’s a ward of Suffolk County Child Protective Services.
And this is why Candace Gundersen is fighting for her son. (It’s about time the mainstream media has admitted that stealing children is a criminal act!!! This woman needs to have her son back. This type of overreach MUST end.)
Back in June when doctors told her that Nick had leukemia, the holistic wellness coach asked doctors if she could get a second opinion before Nick began chemotherapy on June 30th. But their response was to let her know that if she did, they would call CPS and “have me removed and my son would have the treatment anyway.”1 Obviously, terrified, she signed the consent.
<<<<<<Let’s pause here for a moment and discuss the fact that a parent asked for a second opinion and was threatened with CPS. This is disgusting and totally unacceptable behavior. We do not live in a police state. Honestly, we should be taking to the streets to protest this.>>>>>>
Moving on with the treatment, Gundersen says her son Nick was hospitalized for 30 days and suffered an adverse reaction to the chemotherapy:
“He lost over 20 percent of his body weight. He developed typhlitis, which is a life-threatening bowel infection, he had fluid in both his lungs, he was bedridden. He stopped breathing on numerous occasions, he was on oxygen.”2
I imagine she was scared for her son and perhaps that why when doctors tried to admit him again, she refused (he was discharged on July 24th but had outpatient appointments until August 29th). And that’s when doctors called CPS.
“On September 2, Gundersen said police officers and CPS showed up at her house at 3:30 a.m. and seized Nick and forced him to return to Cohen. On September 11th, Gundersen had Nick transferred to NYU Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, where he continued with chemotherapy.
In mid-October, doctors at NYU Winthrop gave Nick a clean bill of health and said the cancer was gone, but informed the family that Nick would need three years of chemotherapy, which is considered the standard of care.”3
But Gundersen refused because she wanted her son to have non-toxic preventative treatments to keep the cancer in remission, “I want him to have a long healthy life and I want him to have that opportunity. If he is forced to do this chemotherapy treatment for the next three years that’s not what will happen. I feel we should be allowed to have choices especially when they’re less toxic.”4
So in October, she took her son to Florida to meet with a group of doctors about preventative therapies. But when he didn’t show up to NYU Winthrop for chemo on October 15th, CPS called her and told her that she needed “to provide documentation that he was getting chemotherapy”5 or there was going to be a problem.
“CPS brought an emergency removal proceeding on October 19th to seize control of Nick. Dr. Mark Weinblatt of NYU Winthrop testified a week later before a Suffolk County family court judge that Nick was in imminent danger of death. On October 26, the judge granted custody of Nick to CPS and ordered him back to Suffolk County. Nick left Florida and was admitted on October 30 to NYU Winthrop.”6
They even went so far as to imply that both mother and child were happy about Nick being there. However, Nick shared his feelings with the media:
“They basically took me away from my parents and that’s unnecessary because they’re trying to help me and they’re not trying to kill me. I think that they should focus on other families that actually need help and whose children lives are actually in danger.”7
You see, Nick doesn’t want to have chemo because he doesn’t have cancer. And I can’t say I blame him.
Our heart and platform and support go out to Gundersen who is due back in Suffolk family court next week. We are standing with you, momma!
