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Sick Teen Ordered Into Foster Care Defends Mom on Facebook

Boy posts video on Facebook after hospital requests he be placed into temporary protective custody

A Kansas City teenager suffering from a painful disease posted a Facebook video expressing support for his mother after he was placed into protective custody.

Michelle Rider took her 16-year-old son, Isaiah, to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago after doctors in three other cities were unable to effectively treat his neurofibromatosis -- a painful condition that causes tumors to grow on his nerves.

But Lurie officials -- citing Michelle Rider's requests for stronger medications -- told a Cook County Court that it was best that Isaiah be taken into temporary protective custody, saying the boy's symptoms appeared to improve when his mother was not around.

"She didn't do anything wrong at all. She's been there since day one," Isaiah Rider said in the video.

"They told me I wasn't able to see my mother and I was shocked, I was shocked by it."

Michelle Rider appeared in Cook County Juvenile Court Tuesday in an effort to regain custody of her son, but a decision on his status has not been made. She has not been charged with any wrongdoing in the case and the hearing will be continued July 2.

"I feel they took me away from my mom and now I'm living here in foster care with some person I barely know," Isaiah said in the video.

Hospital officials have said they cannot comment on the case because of privacy concerns.

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