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Emily McDonald of Austin, Texas has been arrested for repeatedly putting feces into the feeding tube for her hospitalized 3 year old daughter. Her actions were reportedly captured on hospital surveillance cameras after hospital staff became suspicious that the only way the girl could have fecal matter in her bloodstream would be from fecal contamination from feeding tubes.

Such contamination could produce sepsis which is often fatal. The mother reportedly confessed to police that she knew she was making her daughter sick and was doing so to gain attention. Police claim she admits to putting fecal matter in the feeding tube five times since her daughter was admitted to the hospital on April 15. Given the girl’s medical history, it seems very plausible that medical abuse was what put her into the hospital in the first place.
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Being A Good Parent

As parents, we are responsible for caring for our helpless little newborns from birth through growingly capable toddler years all the way up to teenagers and young adults. For some of us, that care extends into adult years as our children encounter severe accidents and illnesses and possibly formerly unimaginable crises.

Sometimes we may sugar-coat an injury or illness to a child, trying to help him or her recover from feeling so badly a little more quickly. We hope the tears might stop a little sooner if we say “that bump doesn’t hurt so much!” when they fall down on the sidewalk and get a little scrape. Amazingly, it often works. Kids learn from their parents to brush off the small injuries, so long as we avoid teaching them that every little malady is a earth-shaking crisis and instead show them that yes, it might hurt, but it will go away faster if we don’t dwell on it.

Some of us have the misfortune of going through divorces or separations. To look out for our kids’ interests, we share custody of our children. Good parents put the children first. Suzy might get sick with the flu, and we share the temperature, medications, and other medical advice with our co-parent. Johnny might break an arm on the playground, and we share the news promptly along with care directions with our co-parent. Or at least most of us would do that, if we truly care about our children.

But Some Parents Can’t Or Won’t Be Good

But not all co-parents do this. Some simply lie about medical care, trying to hide any little problem the children may have. They go so far as to refuse to answer questions about injuries and illnesses, make doctor’s appointments to “prove” the other parent was wrong about an illness, and refuse to pass along medications. When confronted with proof of their egregious behaviors, then they lie even more in the ongoing attempt to over it all up.

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