'We did what we thought was best for our daughter': Parents of 10-year-old cancer victim face inquest into her death after ignoring medical advice and treating her with clay and herbal tea

Tamar Stitt died in 2009 after her parents turned down chemotherapy

They tried to treat the 10-year-old's liver cancer with natural remedies

A Perth inquest will determine if Tamar's death was preventable

A father who chose to treat his daughter's cancer with 'alternative' therapies such as herbal tea and clay instead of chemotherapy has defended his decision at an inquest into her death.

Tamar Stitt died in El Salvador in 2009 just three months after she was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer in Perth.

Her parents, Trevor and Arely Stitt, are now facing an inquest after they ignored advice from doctors that their 10-year-old daughter needed seven weeks of chemotherapy to give her a 50-60 percent chance of survival.

Tamar Stitt died in El Salvador in 2009 just three months after she was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer in Perth

'I'm not going to accept it was wrong… we did what we thought was right at the time,' Mr Stitt told the inquest last week.

'We wanted what we believed was best for our daughter.'

The inquest will examine whether the 10-year-old's death could have been prevented.

Following their decision to decline chemotherapy in August 2009, Princess Margret Children's Hospital asked the West Australian Supreme Court to force Tamar to undergo treatment.

Tamar and her mother fled to El Salvador on the same day the court was scheduled to hand down their decision after Dr Alastair Nuttall signed a medical certificate saying she was okay to fly, the West Australian reports.

The 10-year-old was treated with herbal tea and red clay instead of chemotherapy, which the doctors said would give her a 50-60 percent chance of survival

The Stitt's then began treating Tamar's cancer with herbal tea and red clay by wrapping her body in clay twice a day.

'The clay is basically the right medicine for any kind of illness,' Mrs Stitt told Channel Seven's Sunday Night from El Salvador in 2009.

'What it does, it dries up anything that is causing the illness in your system - all the toxics.'

'We never agreed for Tamar to have chemo. Because we've seen so many cases and knowing what we know about natural remedies, they work slowly but it's worth it.'

The program aired the 2009 interview on Sunday after their reporter Rahni Sadler was called to give evidence as the inquest moves forward.

Her parents, Trevor and Arely Stitt, who are currently facing a coronial inquest, chose not to let their daughter undergo chemotherapy because of the horrific side effects

Tamar eventually underwent chemotherapy when natural remedies proved unsuccessful, but she died in El Salvador two weeks after starting treatment.



Mr Stitt told Perth Coroner's Court last week that he and his wife felt bullied by doctors when they declined chemotherapy for Tamar because of side effects, according to the ABC.

'I didn't have much confidence in chemotherapy at all… given the horrific side effects,' he said.

'What I read at the time was enough to frighten us.'

The inquest continues.