The Power and the Glory

Leslie H. Morley is a practising lawyer with a particular interest in
immigration and family law.

In this book, Owen Griffiths, a lawyer with a background in public
relations and marketing, relates the story of his client, Tyrell Dueck,
who discovered in October 1998 that he had cancer. The 13-year-old
Martensville, Saskatchewan, boy felt led by God to seek options other
than surgery and chemotherapy. In the epic struggle that ensued,
Griffiths and the Dueck family were pitted against Tyrell’s doctors,
the Children’s Aid Society, and the courts. Tyrell was compelled to
receive conventional treatment through much of this period, but by the
time of his tragic death in June 1999, a pyrrhic victory had been
achieved: after it was determined the medical establishment could not
cure him, he was permitted to pursue alternative treatment.

It is clear from the beginning of this book that the author’s first
priority is not to set out a narrative account of events, but rather to
review the spiritual dimension of the story. Tyrell’s tribulations
converted Griffiths from a Christian lawyer whose beliefs were based on
rational experiences, to an exhorter determined to get people to pray
for the child. At times, the insistent spiritual message gets in the way
of the facts of the story. However, for those whose reading list runs to
the secular, this book provides some insight into the debate around the
rights of young persons to refuse medical treatment.