A terminally-ill teenager from Herefordshire has won her right to die at home after health bosses dropped a legal campaign to force her to have heart surgery against her wishes.
Child protection officers used a court order to try to take 13-year-old Hannah Jones from her family in Marden and make her have a heart transplant.
She had been warned that the transplant itself might result in death.
But health chiefs have now abandoned the High Court proceedings after speaking to the former leukaemia sufferer and her family and she will now spend her remaining time at home.
Hannah said: “They explained everything to me but I did not want to go through any more operations. I’d had enough of hospitals and wanted to come home.”
The teenager has a hole in her heart, meaning it can only pump a fraction of its normal capacity. The damage was caused by treatment for a rare form of leukaemia diagnosed when she was five. Hannah had been previously warned that she had only six months to live and that the only potential long term solution was a heart transplant.
Her father Andrew, 43, told how he received a phone call one Friday warning him that his daughter would be removed from the family unless they agreed to her having the transplant.
But he persuaded the officials to speak to Hannah before taking any action. Mr Jones, an auditor, added: “Hannah must have done a good job of convincing them because after consulting lawyers they said on Monday no further action would be taken. My wife and I agreed that whatever Hannah wanted to 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.”
Hannah’s mother Kirsty is a former intensive care hospital nurse. The teenager has a brother, Oliver, 11, and sisters Lucy, 10, and Phoebe, four. They are hoping she will live to see Christmas.
In a statement, Herefordshire Primary Care Trust said no patient can be forced to have a heart transplant and in cases such as these, the child’s welfare is “paramount.”
It read: “Professionals from the primary care trust have known Hannah and her family for some time. We recognise that this is an extremely difficult time for them and we are committed to providing continuing support and care to her.
“Clearly the welfare of the child is paramount. Paediatricians will always consider the child’s best interests at all times and this would include the child’s medical, emotional and psychological wellbeing. We work to support families and individuals make infor-med choices about the best possible care for them and that they understand the full impact of any decision, from the simple to the very complex. No one can be forced to have a heart transplant.
“We understand that the child and the family’s views in relation to care and treatment might change over time as the child’s condition changes. Any individual has the right to change their mind at any time.
“When considering whether a child is able to make a decision we would consider the age and the maturity of the child as well as the views of the family and others as appropriate.
A child has the right to change their mind and all professionals providing support to the child and the family have to be sensitive to that.
“The primary care trust continues to work with the family and continue to act in Hannah’s best interests”.
