TAMPA, Fla. -- The mother of a 4-year-old with leukemia testified Tuesday about why she and the child’s father took him out of state instead of letting him finish chemotherapy.
Tyler Bland-Ball says she believe in alternative health care and doesn’t accept what doctors say without questioning them.
“I was looking for an alternative treatment. I was being hopeful.”
That’s why she says she and her husband took Noah McAdams to Kentucky looking for a second opinion from another doctor.
But before they could, police showed at their hotel and took the child away.
RELATED: Judge says parents of sick toddler granted visitation and can seek second medical opinion
The state is arguing that Noah’s parents neglected the boy by stopping his chemotherapy.
They are also trying to show a judge that the father, Joshua McAdams is abusive, bringing up his 2016 domestic battery arrest.
The state also brought up an incident at the hospital involving his son’s case manager, who says McAdams tried to intimidate her.
“Based on the interaction and the husband’s previous behaviors, I did not feel comfortable that he was invading my personal space,” Kyana Sabelko said in court.
The parent’s attorney says Noah is currently in remission and living with his grandmother.
But his parents just want him back home and have agreed to more chemo to make that happen.
On Noah’s mom’s Facebook page, there is a picture of her son embracing her husband with the caption, “Noah deserves to come home, immediately.”
“This is not about whether we are choosing alternative therapies, natural therapies. This about our rights as parents to see other options,” Bland-Ball said in a May 5 interview.
The judge will announce his custody ruling on September 9.
