Mother returns with cancer-patient son

NEW ULM, Minn. – A 13-year-old cancer patient and his mother, who fled Minnesota last week to avoid court-ordered chemotherapy for him, returned voluntarily Monday, and the boy was evaluated by a doctor, according to a sheriff and the family’s attorney.

Daniel Hauser was “immediately checked over medically” when he and his mother arrived on a charter flight at 3 a.m., Brown County Sheriff Rich Hoffmann said.

On a video released by the Sheriff’s Office, Colleen Hauser described how the first chemotherapy treatment Daniel received made him sick and she said he planned to run away from home.

“Then what do I have? I mean, he was going to run,” Hauser said. “And that just broke my heart. I can’t have one of my children running away from something that they should face.”

Hauser expresses optimism that her son can beat cancer, but the video doesn’t disclose where they were or when it was made. The video was produced by Asgaard Media, which also arranged the charter flight for the mother and son to return home.

Hodgkin’s lymphoma has a 90 percent cure rate in children if treated with chemotherapy and radiation, but doctors say Daniel Hauser has a 5 percent chance of survival without those treatments.

He underwent one round of chemotherapy in February but none since. The family cited religious beliefs in opting for natural healing practices inspired by American Indians.