Mazeratti Mitchell, 16, can get the medical treatment doctors say he needs.
A suburan Philadelphia judge ruled on Thursday doctors can use surgery to treat the teenage wrestler's spine injury, despite objections from his parents. They want to treat him with herbs and non-invasive measures.
Delaware County Judge Mary Alice Brennan says doctors at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital can treat the spine injury Mitchell sustained last month during a practice at Chichester High School.
The teen has been in the custody of county child welfare officials since his parents objected to doctors treating him with steroids and surgery.
"We do not agree with the method that the surgeon is trying to take, and I just want everybody to know, that we're not unfit, we're not neglecting his needs, because we’re not," said his mother, Vermell Mitchell, after a court hearing on Feb 3.
An attorney for the teen's parents says they will appeal the ruling.
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