'I didn't want to have any more operations': Girl, 13, says why she would prefer to die with dignity than have transplant



A 13-year-old schoolgirl who successfully battled a hospital decision to forcefully give her a heart transplant said today she had had enough of being treated by medics.



Hannah Jones said she understood her decision may lead to her death, but explained: 'I didn't want to go through any more operations.'

'There is a chance I will be okay and a chance I might not be, but I'm willing to take the chance.'

Doctors had warned the brave schoolgirl, with a hole in her heart, that the transplant itself might lead to her dying on the operating table - but insisted she have the operation.

Health chiefs eventually abandoned the High Court proceedings after Hannah told them she would not let surgeons operate. She has chosen instead to spend her remaining time at home.

Hannah Jones: The terminally ill teenager has won the right to refuse treatment

She said: 'They explained everything to me but I didn't want to go through any more operations. I'd had enough of hospitals and wanted to come home.

'I put my point across, I told them I don't want this and I don't want to have it.



'I just decided that their were too many risks and even if I went ahead there might be a chance that there was a bad outcome.



'I have not had a month or a year go by when I've not had hospital treatment. My doctors all are looking after me, they are supporting me 100 per cent and so are my parents, my mum sitting here with and my dad, who is at work.

"They never thought I would make such a recovery.

Hannah Jones, pictured with her parents Kirsty and Andrew. Her parents were disgusted by the initial decision by a hospital to force Hannah to have a heart transplant

"I think I have made the right decision at the moment and I am not going to change it.



"Hospital holds some bad memories for me and I don't want anymore treatment."



In a letter to the Jones family, Herefordshire Primary Care Trust chief executive Chris Bull said the Trust had concluded that it was 'not appropriate' to seek a court order requiring Hannah to be admitted to hospital.



He added that Hannah appeared to 'understand the serious nature of her condition' and that she 'demonstrated awareness that she could die'.

Hannah, from Marden near Hereford, has a hole in her heart meaning it can only pump a fraction of its normal capacity.

Her heart was further weakened by treatment for a rare form of leukaemia diagnosed when she was just five.



She had been previously warned that she had only six months to live and that the only potential long term solution was a heart transplant.



At present the law states that a child under 16 may be judged able to give their consent for an operation, but there is nothing written down about them refusing the treatment.

Yesterday, her parents Andrew and Kirsty, an intensive care nurse, said they were disgusted by the initial decision to pursue the case.

Mr Jones, a 43-year-old auditor, said: ' Hannah had been through enough already and to have the added stress of a possible court hearing or being forcibly taken into hospital is disgraceful.

'We obviously want Hannah to be with us for as long as possible, but we're not going to force her into something she definitely does not want at this time.

'She has been in and out of hospital all of her life and she has decided that she has had enough of it.' Hannah was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia at five.

The high-strength drug she was given to treat the illness caused a hole to develop in her heart.

She is now taking a range of medication and has been fitted with a special pacemaker. That operation meant a seven-month hospital stay between May and November last year.

In that time she was told the only potential long-term solution was a heart transplant. Hannah talked through the pros and cons with her consultants at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and Birmingham Children's Hospital.

She decided against it because there was a high risk she would not survive the surgery. Even if she did, the leukaemia could return because of her weakened immune system.

Hannah judged it would be better to return home to Marden near Hereford and enjoy time with her brother Oliver, 11, and sisters Lucy, ten, and Phoebe, four, under the expert care of her 42-year-old mother.

But the family then received a telephone call from Hereford Hospital, where Hannah had regular check-ups, warning it could apply for a High Court order to admit her to hospital.





Hannah, pictured in Disneyland Paris. The teenager has been told her trip to Disnelyland America is under threat as no insurance company will insure her

The next day a female child protection officer interviewed Hannah at home. The hospital then decided not to go ahead with any case.

Mr Jones said yesterday: 'I don't know exactly what Hannah said in that room but it must have been powerful enough to convince some very high up people that she was right. We're very proud of our little girl.'

Yesterday, a spokesman for Herefordshire Primary Care Trust refused to explain why it had considered legal action to force Hannah to go to hospital. However, Chris Bull, the trust's chief executive, wrote to the family after they complained to the General Medical Council.

He said the doctors involved had taken 'appropriate' action but the PCT had decided against the need for court action. He said Hannah was a 'brave and courageous young woman'.



