Child safety authorities were aware Elizabeth Struhs was at risk years before the little girl’s tragic death
A Queensland inquest is examining whether government agencies responded adequately to warnings that Elizabeth Struhs could die without insulin. The eight-year-old died at her family’s home near Toowoomba in January 2022 after her father stopped her treatment and family members and fellow church members prayed around her instead of obtaining medical care.
A paediatrician told the inquest that Elizabeth had been close to death in 2019, when she was six, and that returning her to her mother, who rejected medical treatment, posed an extreme risk. Her endocrinologist had also warned that diabetes was life-threatening without insulin; a safety plan reportedly relied on Elizabeth recognising and reporting when she was unwell. The inquest heard that concerns about the family’s religious group had first reached child protection authorities in 2013, after Elizabeth’s older sister raised concerns.
- Inquest examines agency decisions before Elizabeth Struhs’s death.
- Doctors had warned that stopping insulin could be fatal.
- A safety plan relied on the young child reporting illness.
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Elizabeth Struhs was an eight-year-old girl with type 1 diabetes who died in January 2022 when her father stopped her insulin treatment and the family relied on prayer instead of seeking medical care. Her death has now prompted a Queensland inquest examining whether government child protection agencies adequately responded to repeated warnings that she was at serious risk without insulin.
Medical professionals had repeatedly warned that Elizabeth's diabetes was life-threatening without insulin, with a paediatrician noting she had been close to death at age six. A safety plan in place at the time relied on Elizabeth herself recognising and reporting when she was unwell, despite her young age and the seriousness of the condition.
Concerns about the family's religious group and their rejection of medical treatment first reached child protection authorities in 2013 after Elizabeth's older sister raised concerns about the household. The inquest is examining whether agencies responded adequately to these concerns in the years before Elizabeth's death.