Amish Girl Who Fled United States To Escape Forced Chemotherapy Is Now Cancer-Free

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There are many amazing stories of people having cured of cancer using holistic approaches and natural non-invasive treatments. There are also controversial ones that have made headlines around the world and have re-ignited the debate between advocates of natural cancer prevention and supporters of traditional cancer treatment techniques such as chemotherapy. ^[1][2] One of them is the case of Sarah Hershberger, an Amish girl who resisted a hospital’s attempt to force her to resume chemotherapy for leukemia. She is now cancer-free.

Sarah was diagnosed with cancer in 2013 and had to undergo chemotherapy treatments. However, her parents decided to stop such treatments which they feared might eventually lead to her death. A legal battle ensued between Sarah’s parents and officials at Akron Children’s Hospital. The latter wanted to strip Sarah’s parents of their right to decide for their daughter’s medical treatment. Doctors from the healthcare facility argued that Sarah would not survive six months without chemotherapy.

However, a ruling by Probate Judge John L. Lohn favored Sarah’s parents, whom he found competent enough to make medical decisions on their daughter’s behalf. However, a higher court ordered the judge to appoint a guardian. This forced Sarah’s parents to flee the country to seek alternative medical treatment in Mexico and Canada in the fall of 2013. Eventually, the hospital relinquished its guardianship, seeing no point in pursuing the matter further after a decision from probate judge John Kevin Dunn, who terminated the hospital guardianship on September 24, 2015. Dunn replaced Lohn when the latter retired in 2014.

Dunn’s decision acknowledged that Sarah showed no symptoms of cancer. The judge visited Sarah’s home in August 2015 and found the Amish girl active and working daily on the family farm. He facilitated one trip to the Cleveland Clinic where MRIs and blood work didn’t show any trace of cancer.

Amish people shun many facets of modern life and are deeply religious. But the move of Sarah’s parents to stop chemotherapy treatment was not for religious reasons, according to a report by The Daily Mail. ^[3] Her parents believed that the chemo treatments were making Sarah too sick.

Other Cases Of Natural Cancer Prevention Survivors

Sarah and her parents were not alone in successfully treating cancer with the help of alternative treatments. There are many people who hurdled the challenges of cancer without undergoing chemotherapy sessions. They were treated with non-toxic cancer therapies and nutrition. These are just some of the success stories from alternative cancer clinics:

1. Donald Factor

Don is the son of cosmetics tycoon Max Factor. He was diagnosed with extensive cancer in his lung, liver, and spine in 1986. His unorthodox battle with the disease was widely publicized. ^[4] He underwent metabolic therapy at the Oasis of Hope, a Mexican clinic that practices the alternative regime. After four sessions, scans found no sign of active growth in his liver.

2. Suzanne Summers

Suzanne is an actress who was known for her character, Chrissy Snow, on the television show Three’s Company. She opted for alternative cancer treatments after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She wrote a book to share her cancer survival story and describe the abuse she had received from the American Cancer Society.

3. Jessica Ainscough

This aspiring magazine writer had an extremely rare form of cancer in her arm called epithelioid sarcoma. She flew to Mexico where she underwent Gerson Therapy. ^[5] She followed a strict diet that included fresh vegetable juices and coffee enemas for two years.

4. Tamara St. John

Tamara beat breast cancer twice by not having surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation. She is now an advocate of alternative methods to healing diseases without the use of drugs or surgery. She is an adjunct professor of Accounting and Finance at two universities in Southern California.

5. Burton Goldberg

Burton is one of the leading voices of alternative medicine. He survived bladder cancer and kidney cancer using natural remedies. He wrote the book Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide. ^[6] He is also a big critic of the medical industry which he considers as a for-profit business over and above a for-health business.

Complementary And Alternative Therapies For Cancer Treatment

Complementary therapies have long been used as adjuncts to mainstream cancer care. Here a few:

1. Dietary Supplements

Cancer patients are advised by doctors to only take moderate doses of vitamin and mineral supplements as therapies. ^[7] The American Cancer Society stresses that dietary supplements are not substitutes for established medicines. Most supplements have not been studied extensively, so it is important to choose wisely.

2. Herbal Medicines

The derivative phyto-compounds of medicinal herbs are increasingly being recognized as complementary treatments for cancer. Several studies have reported the beneficial effects of herbal medicines when they are used in combination with conventional therapeutics. Some herbal supplements are also used as adjuvants in conventional anticancer therapies. ^[8] See our full report on anticancer herbs.

3. Gerson Therapy

Long promoted as an alternative cancer treatment, the Gerson regimen requires cancer patients to consume fresh, raw fruit and vegetable juice and to eliminate salt from the diet. Patients are also required to take supplements such as potassium, vitamin B12, and thyroid hormone. ^[9]

4. Proteolytic Enzyme Therapy

Several clinical studies have confirmed the safety and efficacy of systemic enzyme therapy in decreasing tumor-induced and therapy-induced side effects and complaints such as nausea, fatigue, and weight loss. One study used the regimen on patients suffering from breast and colorectal cancers. ^[10]

5. Vitamin C Chelation

A Japanese study added mounting evidence that ascorbate therapy is effective in reducing tumors. The study investigated vitamin C’s mechanisms of actions against tumor cells. The vitamin’s therapeutic effect is linked to extracellular collagen production which walls in the tumors. ^[11]