Jehovah’s Witness parents may address court in transfusion case

THE Jehovah’s Witness parents’ of a four-and-a-half- year-old girl who may need a blood transfusion are to be given the opportunity to address the High Court today after a hospital sought an order allowing it to transfuse the child if necessary.

The Dublin hospital made an emergency application to Ms Justice Mary Laffoy yesterday seeking the order after the parents refused to give consent for a transfusion.

The child, whose parents are from the Congo and are members of the Jehovah’s Witness faith, was admitted to the hospital last Sunday after being transferred from another hospital suffering from chest problems, fever, sharpness of breath and vomiting. An X-ray revealed that fluid needed to be drained from her chest, a doctor from the Dublin hospital told the High Court.