A man who was convicted of letting his son die of meningitis, choosing to treat him with maple syrup and garlic instead of real medicine, was scheduled to speak at a “wellness” expo until he was dropped following online outrage.

When I think of “wellness,” I think of doctors and nutritionists, not David Stephan, who received four months in jail for negligent child care leading to his son’s death. Following the sentence, he also lashed out against the judges and prosecutors, blaming them and playing the victim.

Despite being found guilty in the tragic case, in which he admitted to “treating” his son’s fatal meningitis with nothing but maple syrup, garlic, hot peppers, and juice with frozen berries, Stephan was included in the lineup of speakers at next month’s Calgary Wellness Expo.

Titled “Achieving Brain & Thyroid Health — Rising to your Potential,” Stephan’s seminar promises information on how to improve mental health and promote hormone balance through nutrient supplementation. It’s the same talk Stephan is giving this weekend at the Wellness Expo in Saskatoon.

Not only has Stephan not learned his lesson about promoting “natural” remedies over real modern medicine following the death of his child, but he seems to be doubling down on the issue and affirming his position by joining the speaker circuit. This is possibly a defense mechanism in which he justifies his actions. After all, if he’s wrong about all this stuff, he really did kill his son, and it’s possible he just can’t handle that fact.

Fortunately, the fact that he was speaking at the event didn’t go unnoticed. Sobeys, the second-largest food retailer in Canada, posted on Twitter that it was withdrawing sponsorship from the event due to his inclusion.

Sobeys has withdrawn its sponsorship from Health and Wellness Expos of Canada and will not be associated with future events. — Sobeys (@sobeys) February 11, 2018

Some people took to Twitter to call on Sobeys to pull its support of the expo, given Stephan’s involvement. Sobeys spokeswoman Cynthia Thompson says the company won’t be associated with any future Health and Wellness Expo events. Sunday afternoon, expo sponsor Flaman Fitness followed suit in yanking their support.

It looks like the sponsor protests have worked, because Stephan’s bio has been pulled from the speakers’ page for the so-called wellness event. The Health and Wellness Expos of Canada confirmed he wouldn’t be speaking, calling it a “mutual” decision.

“We came to a mutual agreement that it would be in his best interest to not be here anymore,” Health and Wellness Expos of Canada spokesperson Rick Thiessen said.

I think I can speak for the rest of the world when I say it’s in everyone’s best interest Stephan not be here anymore, especially since he’s trying to put other people’s kids at risk after letting his own son die of a treatable illness.

