Doctors were so concerned about the religious beliefs of Elizabeth Struhs’ mother they recommended she be subjected to an involuntary mental health assessment because she delusionally believed her daughter would be healed from type 1 diabetes, a coroner has heard.
Child safety officers, nonetheless, decided to return the eight-year-old home to live with her mother, Kerrie Struhs, over the objections of Brisbane-based doctors, in 2019.
Elizabeth died on 7 January 2022, at her home in Rangeville, Toowoomba, after her insulin was stopped by her father, Jason Struhs. A long-term sceptic of his wife’s beliefs, he had converted to them and joined her religious sect – which subscribed to an extreme form of Christianity and denied the use of medicine – in 2021.
The coroner, Ainslie Kirkegaard, heard evidence from three child safety officers involved in Elizabeth’s case on Thursday.
Elizabeth came to the attention of the department of child safety in 2019 after she was hospitalised with late-stage diabetic ketoacidosis on 17 July, a potentially fatal ailment that affects people with type 1 diabetes who are not given insulin. The court has heard she was so unwell she was in a coma and nearly died.
Despite her poor condition, Kerrie objected to Jason driving her to hospital, believing Elizabeth would be miraculously healed.
Kerrie later participated in an interview involving child safety officers and health staff.
Contemporaneous notes taken from the meeting presented in court read: “Kerrie stated that Elizabeth cannot keep this disease and she will be healed.
“(A health) consultant stated that they have treated 100s of children and parents and no one has ever reverted back from the diabetes or got rid of type 1,” the notes read.
“Kerrie stated that she has to trust in God to heal Elizabeth as God promised her he will hear her.”
A consultant asked Kerrie what she would do if she was home with Elizabeth and her sugar levels dropped, a sign of health risk.
“Kerrie stated that she will pray straight away,” the notes read.
The coroner has heard that doctors based in Brisbane repeatedly urged child safety officers not to return her home due to her religious beliefs, which they deemed “delusional”, but one told the court on Monday she felt “stonewalled” by them.
Notes of a phone call she made at the time were presented in court on Thursday.
“Child safety officer explained that the mother would not engage in any mental health assessments if recommended given her beliefs,” a child safety officer told her.
“(The doctor) stated that this is why they believe she requires an involuntary assessment and that child safety could arrange this.”
Both parents were later convicted of failing to provide the necessities of life as a result of delaying seeking medical help during the incident, with Kerrie jailed.
Child safety officers decided to return her home into the care of her father, which they did in August.
They developed a safety plan for Elizabeth and had her parents sign an intervention with parental agreement – a form of voluntary arrangement to keep a child safe at home without needing a court-ordered custody or guardianship arrangement.
The document, which was presented in court, laid out the expectations the department had for Elizabeth’s parents.
It said child safety was “worried” that Kerrie and her other children would convince Elizabeth that she was “healed by God … which could lead to Elizabeth refusing to take her medication making her very sick or putting her at risk of death”.
Jason promised to provide insulin to his daughter and did so for two years, before he was convinced to stop by other members of the sect – known as the Saints – in 2021.
All 14 adult members of the sect were convicted of Elizabeth’s manslaughter last year, including the group leader, Brendan Stevens.
None of the witnesses can be identified for legal reasons.
The inquest continues.
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