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Parents Explain Why They Fled With Sick Son
Sept. 2 -- A Utah couple who fled the state with their 12-year-old son so he could avoid court-ordered chemotherapy treatments say they're willing work with state authorities to find a mutually acceptable medical treatment for the boy.
Daren and Barbara Jensen were charged with kidnapping after Utah'schild-welfare authorities obtained a warrant for their son Parker's custody.
The state had ordered that the boy be placed in state custody so he could receive 48 weeks of chemotherapy for what doctors say is a deadly form of cancer called Ewing's sarcoma.
But Parker's parents aren't sure that he needs chemotherapy — which can have serious side effects. They say the authorities are trying to force the treatment on their son even though they can't prove he needs it.
"I think definitely in this case someone jumped the gun, because with Ewing's sarcoma there's a variety of tests that need to be performed," Daren Jensen said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America. He said he and his wife asked the state authorities to conduct the tests, but they refused.
Utah doctors removed a cancerous tumor from under Parker's tongue last April and said they wanted to prevent a reoccurrence of Ewing's sarcoma by using chemotherapy.
Jensen said he didn't feel his son needed such treatment based on tests on the tumor.
"When it came back the first time they said it was a poorly differentiated malignancy.It was very vague," he told Good Morning America.
To avoid the unwanted treatments, Jensen's wife and son went into hiding after the court order and tried to go to a Houston clinic to get a second opinion. Utah authorities foiled their plans by alerting the clinic to the Utah warrant for the boy's custody.
Parker and his mother then joined Daren Jensen in Idaho on Saturday, saying they wanted to negotiate with the Utah authorities.
Parker Jensen told Good Morning America he doesn't want to undergo chemotherapy because he doesn't feel sick.
"I feel great. I haven't been sick. I haven't had any symptoms. I'm normal," he said.
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