Medically Kidnapped Teen Isaiah Rider Finally Free from Child Protective Services but Ruined Lives Remain
Isaiah Rider is finally free. The Missouri teen was taken captive by Illinois DCFS (Department of Children and Family Services) more than 2 years ago when his mother challenged the doctors at Lurie Children's Hospital when her son was in pain and not being helped by the doctors there. Isaiah and his mother Michelle Rider have been living in a nightmare ever since that horrible day on April 15, 2014, the day when DCFS kicked Michelle out of the hospital and seized custody of Isaiah. Now, that chapter is over, and they are beginning the difficult task of putting their lives back together. When an innocent family wins against Child Protective Services, it can feel like a hollow victory. It is, as Team Isaiah states, "bitter-sweet." It cannot be compared to winning a victory in a ballgame, or a race, or an election. It is a victory after fighting the hardest battle in a family's life, a battle that never should have happened in the first place. So much has been lost. As one mother told Health Impact News after winning such a victory: "How do we celebrate after our lives have been ruined?" The question remains: What are we going to do about it? Are we going to work to make sure that what happened to Michelle and Isaiah Rider stops happening to other families? Medical Kidnapping is wrong, and it needs to end.