Parents still waiting for answers 30 years after Sharon’s death

THE parents of a dead child, whose tissue samples were retained in a hospital for 29 years and her brain incinerated without their consent, criticised the health authorities yesterday for not answering their questions about her death.

Donal and Breda Murphy, from Knocknaheeny in Cork city, buried the remains of their daughter Sharon last year.

She died in St Finbarr’s Hospital, Cork, in 1976, aged just seven-and-a-half months.

But her parents discovered almost two years ago that tissue samples had been taken from her body without their consent and her brain was incinerated.

They received 24 wax blocks containing her tissue samples from the Health Services Executive (HSE) last year.

They had been stored on a lab shelf in Cork University Hospital (CUH).

But Sharon’s original post-mortem details cannot be traced.

The Murphys, who are being backed by the Parents for Justice group, said they want the HSE to answer their questions in full.

“Who authorised the taking of my daughter’s tissues? Who authorised her brain to be incinerated?” Ms Murphy asked.

The couple wrote to Health Minister Mary Harney over 14 months ago seeking full disclosure on the details of Sharon’s death.

Ms Harney wrote back saying the HSE would deal with the issue.

Yesterday, Ms Murphy said she was not happy with their response.

“The doctors said Sharon died from convulsions from viral pneumonia but I have a death cert saying she died from bronchitis,” she said.

“I want the HSE to get to the bottom of this.”

The HSE, which apologised to the family last year, defended their handling of the case last night.

“Hospital staff have met with the Murphys to answer their questions and to offer them any support necessary — this information has been also been relayed in writing,” a spokesman said.

But Ms Murphy said she has no faith in doctors anymore.

“I believed everything they told me at the time of Sharon’s death. But now no-one is listening me,” she said.