Brave 13 Year Old Declines Heart Translpant

I’d like to say I could have even a fraction of this child’s courage.  What courage you say?  Well, how about the courage to face the unknown of your own demise.  It’s almost an unreal task for any average person, but as we all hope, it should be unthinkable for a 13 year girl.

Though, in Britain this week, a girl named Hannah Jones convinced authorities and hospital officials she is better off without a new heart.  She apparently also conveyed that after being diagnosed with Leukemia at the age of 4 and a subsequent lifelong battle against a heart disease called Cardiomyopathy, she would like nothing else but to be home with her brothers, sisters, and parents without further treatment.

Both her parents, her father an auditor and mother an intensive care nurse, say they are upset that the hospital brought forth official action to place Hannah in foster care in order to authorize the transplant. Even doctors say that if Hannah had a successful transplant surgery, the drugs to help her body maintain her new heart could spur a new round of Leukemia leaving their efforts barren.

So, it was with this information Hannah made a choice of quality rather than quantity.  And as someone who has had a sobering journey watching people withering on deathbeds, fighting diseases that not only ravage a body but rob the happiness of a soul, I understand this decision.

While some may judge their parents unfit to allow such a thing, preaching actions of whatever it takes to save a child, I ask you to consider the life itself.  When we save someone are we really saving them or our broken hearts?

So…cheers to you Hannah and may your life be consumed with the quality of happiness, joy, new memories, and experiences outside the brave hospital life you have known.  For life is always quality and never quantity.