"Apparently we didn't have enough faith"

A family who watched their daughter die from a treatable disease explained away what happened with the comment that "apparently we didn't have enough faith".

Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

WESTON, Wis. — An 11-year-old girl died after her parents prayed for healing rather than seek medical help for a treatable form of diabetes, police said Tuesday.

Everest Metro Police Chief Dan Vergin said Madeline Neumann died Sunday.

"She got sicker and sicker until she was dead," he said.

Vergin said an autopsy determined the girl died from diabetic ketoacidosis, an ailment that left her with too little insulin in her body, and she had probably been ill for about 30 days, suffering symptoms like nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, loss of appetite and weakness.

The girl's parents, Dale and Leilani Neumann, attributed the death to "apparently they didn't have enough faith," the police chief said.

They believed the key to healing "was it was better to keep praying. Call more people to help pray," he said.

The mother believes the girl could still be resurrected, the police chief said.

Telephone messages left at the Neumann home by The Associated Press were not immediately returned.

The family does not attend an organized church or participate in an organized religion, Vergin said. "They have a little Bible study of a few people."

The parents told investigators their daughter last saw a doctor when she was 3 to get some shots, Vergin said. The girl had attended public school during the first semester but didn't return for the second semester.

Officers went to the home after one of the girl's relatives in California called police to check on her, Vergin said. She was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The relative was fearful the girl was "extremely ill, dire," Vergin said.

The girl has three siblings, ranging in age from 13 to 16, the police chief said.

"They are still in the home," he said. "There is no reason to remove them. There is no abuse or signs of abuse that we can see."

The girl's death remains under investigation and the findings will be forwarded to the district attorney to review for possible charges, the chief said.

The family operates a coffee shop in Weston, which is a suburb of Wausau, Vergin said.

No, they were stupid, insane, and negligent. This child had a treatable disease. But they chose to "pray" instead of getting this child medical treatment. They even had the audacity to say that they never expected her to die during prayer. What the hell did they expect? Did they honestly think that she was going to jump up and declare that she was magically cured? These people are insane!!

It's one thing to have religious beliefs. It's a totally different thing to withhold medical attention and treatment because you think that "prayer" is going to be the magical cure. They watched her get sicker and sicker over the span of about a month. They watched her dying right before their eyes, and they did nothing.

The thing that gets me is that the police actually said that the other kids in the house weren't removed from the home because "There is no abuse or signs of abuse that we can see." HELLO!! A child died in that house because her parents let her die. I don't know about anyone else, but that is a clear case of abuse if you ask me!! She didn't have to die. She could have been treated, and she'd be alive today. She had diabetes. It's not like she had a terminal illness and nothing could be done to treat her. She had a treatable disease, and they let her die!!

It doesn't matter whether it was out of pure stupidity or because of religious beliefs. They let their child die for no reason that anyone can rationalize. No matter how hard they or anyone else tries, nobody can justify what they did. There is no excuse!!