Alexandru Radita developed type 1 diabetes at only 3 years old, diagnosed in 2000 at a hospital in British Columbia. Sadly and disturbingly, he died on May 7, 2013 at age 15, reports the Washington Post, because his parents are part of a Christian denomination, Romanian Apostolic Church, that the parents claim discourages the use of doctors and western medicine. Upon further investigation, there is no “official doctrine” within the religion that discourages utilizing the medical care of doctors.

At the time of his death, he “weighed less than 37 pounds” due to over a decade of severely high blood sugars, inadequate insulin dosages, and an overall lack of the care he absolutely needed in order to thrive as a child with type 1 diabetes.

As devastatingly avoidable as his death was, what’s almost more disturbing is that this poor boy managed to live–and suffer–for as long as he did.

The emergency worker called to their house on the night of his death reported the following:

“She described him as emaciated to the point where he appeared ‘mummified.’ His face had no visible flesh left as she could see every bone in his face,” court records of the worker’s account stated. “He had black, necrotic sores on his face and his left jaw had open sores so deep she could see his jaw bone. There was nothing left of his stomach as he was just so extraordinarily skinny. She estimated his waistline to be approximately three inches. He was dressed in a diaper and t-shirt. His eyes were open. He was not breathing.”

His autopsy concluded that he died due to bacterial sepsis–caused by starvation and severe neglect.

In 2014, Alex’s parents Emil and Rodica Radita were found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of their son, and sentenced to life in prison. They have 7 other children of varying ages, several of whom reported that their parents did not believe in doctors despite how sick their brother was.

“The Raditas were well aware how ill Alex was and still refused to treat his medical condition with proper insulin protocol and medical care,” explains Karen Horner to the Washington Post, the justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta who presided over the case. “They knew he was dying.”

Nearly 4 years after his death, questions still remain about why this young boy’s parents let him suffer for over a decade–and why no one intervened sooner. While the parents did claim they were following the beliefs of their religion, further questioning revealed that Alex’s father deeply mistrusted the Canadian health system after they originally misdiagnosed his son.

Further upsetting details show that the Canadian Social Services division did express a warning to the boy’s parents several times during the decade his diabetes was being neglected that he would be taken by Family Services. This warning unfortunately led the parents to homeschooling their son and preventing him from having any interaction with the outside community where they lived.

In 2003, when he was 5 and the Raditas were living in British Columbia, Alex was again admitted to a hospital, suffering from hypoglycemia, according to court records. Alex’s mother told doctors they had not taken him for medical care for two years. A doctor noted that Alex was “within one day of death.”

Shortly after this hospitalization, Alex was placed in foster care for almost an entire year. His social worker wrote the following:

“We were both so proud of you and how well you understand your diabetes. Your foster parents encouraged independence and had a range of food you could choose from,” MacDonald wrote in the statement, which was published in full by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News. “Alex, you were so engaging when you attended appointments at the children’s diabetes centre. All the staff were delighted to see you. However these positive memories are shrouded by the torment that you must have experienced through all those years that followed.”

Sadly, he was returned to live with his parents whom still did not understand the severity of type 1 diabetes and resisted learning more about it. While he did well for two years, slowly gaining weight and being giving the insulin he needed to live, let alone thrive, his mother had resisted increasing his insulin doses because she believed it was giving him “cold sores.”

After 2008, Alex never visited his doctor again. While there was evidence of prescriptions and money being spent on diabetes equipment and insulin, Alex was clearly not getting the amount of insulin he needed to live.

“I think that there are probably, unfortunately, children in the same situation as Alex Radita,” explains Susan Pepper, prosecutor in the case against Alex’s parents. “It would be naive to think there are not other children who are being isolated by their parents so those parents can abuse and/or neglect them. . . . As good as our system is, it should be better. That should not happen.”

What is perhaps most heartbreaking of all is that this just one story of one child, but there are many, many more that have yet to be uncovered.

If you suspect a child is in danger or is not being cared for properly, don’t hesitate. Contact local social services and the police–you could save a life, and save a child from years of further abuse and neglect.

Photo credit: CBC Twitter

Read more about children with diabetes, insulin, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).