Many of us may have read the story of a little girl, Hannah Jones, from England who refused a heart transplant. This life saving operation was refused because the little girl has spent the majority of her life in and out of hospitals and simply wanted to be home with her family - regardless of the risk she is taking.
Social services tried to remove the girl (13) from her family, in order to force her to have the surgery and were recently turned down for the removal and the girl has since been home with her parents and siblings.
As a parent, my first reaction was that yes, of course she should be removed and forced to have this surgery! Anything to save a child - anything! And isn't she too young to make this decision anyway?
Upon further reflection, I looked at it through her eyes, not the eyes of her parents. Being a parent makes this a hard task!
Diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 4, and later with a heart condition, she has endured surgery over and over again (close to a dozen times) and also suffered through cancer treatments, including chemotherapy. She has spent most of the last 8 years in hospital.
Authorities demanded her parents take her into hospital and they refused. Social services were ordered to the girl's home to interview her and left, fully accepting her decision that she was just too tired of all the medical procedures and her decision that it was all "too much trauma".
There is no definite timeline for this young lady. She may be fine, or she may die from lack of a heart transplant.
Alternatively, the procedure of the transplant, and recovery, could also kill her.
For more on this story, click here: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iAVcnV_Jed6S0pu_tX3S13Ah7bZgD94D0RKO0
For more information on heart disease, click to the American Heart Association here : www.americanheart.org
Tell Us
Do you think this girl and her parents made the right decision? What would you do if you were the parent of this child?