Brave schoolgirl Hannah Jones turns down life-saving heart transplant to die at home with her family By Richard Smith 11/11/2008
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http://g.imageshack.us/img6/hannahjones.jpg/1/][IMG] It was the sort of agonising decision most adults would struggle to cope with let alone a child of 13.
But terminally-ill Hannah Jones turned down a life-saving heart transplant and told doctors she would rather go home to die surrounded by her loving family than spend another moment in hospital.
The brave youngster was so fed-up with being cooped up on wards for much of the previous eight years since being struck down by leukaemia and crippling cardio myopathy that she declared enough was enough.
Hannah won the battle to go home after surgeons began legal moves to force her into having the transplant.
She said last night: “They explained everything to me but I just didn’t want to go through any more operations.
“I’d had enough of hospitals and wanted to come home.”
The schoolgirl was on the brink of being forcibly removed from her parents Andrew and Kirsty and taken to hospital under a court order when she begged a child protection officer to spare her the heart operation.
Showing a maturity beyond her years, she convinced the official the transplant was not in her best interest and she wanted to spend the rest of her short life at home in the company of her mum, dad, 11-year-old brother Oliver and sisters Lucy, 10, and Phoebe, four.
Andrew and Kirsty were heartbroken, but supported her decision.
Auditor Andrew, 43, told yesterday how he received a shock phone call one Friday night warning him Hannah would be removed from the family by court order unless they agreed to her having the transplant.
He said: “They had an ambulance lined up and nurses ready to look after Hannah because they knew she would be distressed. They were ready to take her that night. We were all in shock.
“But we got them to agree to speak to Hannah before taking any action.
“Hannah must have done a good job of convincing them because after consulting lawyers they said on Monday no further action would be taken.
“It was very emotional trying to reach the sort of decision you would never wish on your worst enemy. We were as low as it’s possible to get but I just didn’t feel able to influence her.
“My wife and I agreed that whatever Hannah wanted we would support her.
“Hannah knows she can change her mind at any time and go on the waiting list for a transplant.
“She’s a clever girl, but she was just fed up with operations and spending most of her life in hospitals.”
Kirsty, 42, a former intensive care hospital nursing sister, added: “It was not a difficult decision for me to let Hannah decide whether to have the transplant operation. Yes I want her to live and yes I want a cure, but this is not a cure.
“I’ve worked on a cardiac transplant unit and I’ve seen good and bad outcomes.
“If she had the transplant as a child it’s more likely she would need another one in four or five years time. Hannah has been through a lot of trauma and I’m quite happy with the decision she made. I think, for her, it was right.”
Hannah’s hospital ordeal began when she was four after being struck down by a rare form of leukaemia. Doctors discovered she had cardio myopathy – a disease of the heart muscle – as she was having chemotherapy.
Her heart can only pump 10 per cent of its capacity.
Last year, Hannah, of Hereford, became critically ill and had three operations to fit a multi pacer to make her heart beat more strongly.
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