LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — A father who used naturopathic remedies such as hot pepper and horseradish to treat his toddler son before he died from bacterial meningitis four years ago will remain on the witness stand at his trial in Lethbridge, Alta., today.
David Stephan, 32 and his wife, Collet, 35, are in the middle of a jury trial on charges of failing to provide the necessaries of life for their son, Ezekiel, in March 2012.
The boy, who was nearly 19 months old, had been sick for about 2 1/2 weeks and was given natural remedies and homemade smoothies containing hot pepper, ginger root, horseradish and onion.
His parents said he appeared to be getting better up until the day he stopped breathing and was airlifted to hospital in Calgary where he was put on life support and eventually died.
Crown prosecutor Clayton Giles suggested that Ezekiel had never fully recovered from what his parents thought was the croup despite the natural remedies he had received.
He questioned Stephan's early testimony that his children were never "laid up" as a result of illness because of the healthy regimen they were following.
Stephan acknowledged his son had never completely returned to "100 per cent" health in the two weeks he was ill but maintained Ezekiel had croup the first week and then a bout of the flu the next.
He said the events leading up to the loss of his son left him feeling "shell-shocked."
"You're completely caught off guard. You're not properly prepared for this at all."
Stephan was the first witness called by the defence.
The Crown contends the couple didn't do enough to ensure the toddler had proper access to medical care before he became seriously ill.
In earlier testimony, a pediatrician said Ezekiel had less than a one per cent chance of surviving by the time he was rushed to an Alberta hospital.
Dr. Shauna Burkholder, who works at Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary, said medical staff at a smaller hospital near their home was able to revive the boy but he was already brain dead at that point.
