Right to 'die with dignity'
Updated on 11 November 2008
A 13 year old girl wins her battle for the right to "die with dignity", rather than being forced to have a heart transplant which could only temporarily prolong her life. Joanna Simpson reports.
Hannah Jones, 13, had been warned a heart transplant might result in her death, but even in the case of a successful operation she would have suffered pain and been exposed to a number of risks, say experts.
A threatened court action to enforce the operation was dropped after Hannah Jones insisted that she wanted to spend her remaining days in the care of her family.
Dr Carol Cooper, who has worked for Harefield Hospital, a regional centre for cardiology in Middlesex, said: "It's really quite an ordeal. The patient is given counselling and support.
"The pain is bad because the surgeon cuts through the middle of your breast bone to open your chest."
The patient can expect to stay in hospital for a few weeks, she said, and would then be monitored for a long time - sometimes many years - afterwards.
The main immediate risks following the operation are of infection and of the new heart failing to work properly once it is inside the chest.
To counter this, the patient is prescribed "anti-rejection" drugs for the rest of their life.
But these drugs carry their own risk, slightly increasing the chance of getting cancer.
