Elizabeth Struhs remembered as brave and cheeky as her parents found guilty of manslaughter

Elizabeth Struhs was a cheeky, caring and clever young girl who dreamt of becoming a doctor. It was a future robbed from her by her parents and their misguided belief that only God could heal.

Elizabeth Struhs was a cheeky, caring and clever young girl who dreamt of becoming a doctor.

It was a goal that was inspired by her experience of having Type 1 diabetes.

But sadly the eight-year-old girl would not live to realise her dream, dying instead at the hands of her parents and members of their bizarre church.

Rather than nurturing, protecting and caring for Elizabeth, her parents Jason and Kerrie Struhs saw her illness as a test from God, to see if they were faithful to an extreme interpretation of the bible championed by the head of their church Brendan Stevens.

They believed that only God could heal, so they took away Elizabeth’s medicine and watched as she slipped into a coma and passed away in her Rangeville home on January 7, 2022.

This sad and sorry story ended with Kerrie, Jason, Brendan and 11 more members of the church being found guilty of manslaughter on Wednesday with their sentencing date set down for February 11.

Elizabeth Rose Struhs died in her Rangeville home after her parents, encouraged by their religious sect, withheld live-saving insulin.

In the days after Elizabeth’s death Gabbinbar State School teacher Rachel La Franchi took to social media to honour the brave young girl.

“She was Elizabeth Rose, however she preferred to be called Rose and always smiled at me when I remembered,” she said.

“She would give me a feigned look of indignation when I called her Lizzie, which I often did, but she knew that it was my pet name for her so she allowed it.

“Lizzie Rose was an extraordinary child.”

Elizabeth was known to love music and would often play her favourite classical pieces during class.

“She would sing out loud, play the keyboard and read chapter books and poetry to the class,” Ms La Franchi said.

“She was shy but she knew that the kids loved to see her out the front, doing things to make them happy.

“She was loved and knew love – she was light itself. Rest easy now beautiful girl until we meet again.”

During the two-month trial last year, another of Elizabeth’s teachers paid tribute to her memory.

Teacher’s aide Peta Singleton assisted Elizabeth with her insulin injections over several years at Gabbinbar State School.

“That kid was amazing. She could do it herself, she had no qualms about injecting,” Ms Singleton said.

“I used her as an example to others you know ‘you’ve got Struhsy here who can do all this and she’s ready to go and you guys are straggling’.”

Ms Singleton described Elizabeth adapting to her diabetes diagnoses as “phenomenal”.

“She would have periods of teariness here and there (in 2019),” she said.

By the end of 2021 Ms Singleton said Elizabeth was not fazed by it.

“That girl was so confident … she knew it inside and out,” she said.

“She knew she had to manage it. And she was happy to do so.”