Posted by J on March 19, 1999 at 14:16:53 {MWrEF4/YdaJ9k}:
The following is an article from the Globe & Mail. The story is self explanatory. But I am left wondering if this sister is now going to be called before a judicial committee for commenting on this publicly. (LE take note)
There are other stories involving this young boy's fight at www.Globeandmail.com (Simply run a story search on his name.)
Story follows:
Don't expect God to intervene, Duecks told Jehovah's Witness now acknowledges transfusion she once opposed saved her daughter's life
Friday, March 19, 1999
KRISTA FOSS
Health Reporter
Susan Jamieson, a mother and Jehovah's Witness, called Tyrell Dueck's parents to tell them not to put their trust in God if they wanted their 13-year-old son with bone cancer to get better.
"I told him God does not expect us to martyr ourselves," she said yesterday.
The Toronto woman has a unique perspective on the case of the Saskatchewan boy who was ordered by a judge yesterday to undergo life-saving chemotherapy he had refused because he believes God and alternative therapies would heal him.
(J - this lad is not a JW)
In 1995, Ms. Jamieson's
daughter, Tarin Hughes, was diagnosed at the age of 13 with aplastic anemia by doctors at the Hospital for Sick Children. Tarin was told she needed blood transfusions or she would die within 48 hours.
The teenager refused treatment because she and her mother were Jehovah's Witnesses, and use of blood products is against their faith. The Children's Aid Society was called in to take custody of Tarin, and two days later a judge ordered that she be given the blood transfusion.
Today, Ms. Jamieson said her faith is unshaken, but she is happy that the hospital took the actions it did.
"If Sick Kids hadn't fought for my child, she would be dead," she said in an interview. "The fact they did is a comfort."
On Wednesday, Ms. Jamieson left a message at the Duecks' residence in Saskatoon. Timothy Dueck, Tyrell's father called back.
Ms. Jamieson said she empathized with him about the dilemma of having a faith with health restrictions that are put to the test when a child is faced with a life-threatening disease. But then she asked to speak her mind about the Duecks' belief that God would intervene to help Tyrell.
"I told him our belief in God gave us the courage to face Tarin's death and it kept our family together, but there is no way God intervened to save Tarin," Ms. Jamieson said. "She got better through medicine, doctors' support and the help of hospitals."
Still, Ms. Jamieson is a firm believer in looking for other options, if they are pursued in the most informed manner possible.
When she regained custody of Tarin in February of 1996, she took her to the United States to pursue alternative treatment and to help her daughter avoid a bone-marrow transplant. The Children's Aid Society started extradition proceedings to bring Tarin back to Canada, but then dropped them.
Tarin was given alternative treatments in the United States and avoided the transplant. She and her mother returned to Canada this fall and are living in Toronto. Tarin, now 16, is back at school and she's healthy but "delicate."
end of story
J - There was a 4x4" picture of this sister and daughter.