Woman was prepared to die for her faith
A young woman who refused a transfusion after losing a massive amount of blood after giving birth in a Dublin maternity hospital has told the High Court she believed a transfusion was a transgression of "an order from God'' and she was "prepared to die'' for her faith.
The 24-year-old French-speaking woman from the Congo, known as Ms K, became distressed while giving evidence in the continuing action by the Coombe Women's Hospital for court orders that it was entitled to apply in September 2006 for a court injunction allowing it to transfuse her against her wishes.
Examined by her counsel, Mr John Rogers SC, and speaking through a translator, Ms K said today that, after she haemorrhaged, she was told by hospital staff a transfusion was the only solution that would save her life.
She said she had refused a transfusion several times, telling the doctors she was an adult and did not want a transfusion.
She accepted it was "no joke" when a doctor gives a warning that a person's life is in danger.
However, because of her Jehovah Witness faith, she did not want any blood and was "prepared to die".
She had told the doctors that, for her, having a transfusion was a transgression of "an order from God" in the Bible.
It was "breaking the rules" because it was "written in the Bible that we should not accept blood or blood products".
"I had to accept that order and it was me who had to make that decision." She was born and had grown up under that principle, she added.
She wanted to make hospital staff understand that she was not happy to have a transfusion, she felt "abused and dirtied". This was a moment where she had to choose "between reality and lies".
"I would choose reality for God," she said.
Asked what she found "offensive" about the transfusion, she said it was because she was made transgress something at the "bottom of her beliefs" and because the doctors were not 100% sure the blood was good for the person.
She still cannot forget the blood is in her, she said. "It really hurts."
She had become a Jehovah Witness in 1995 and her father, who had converted from Catholicism, was an elder in the Jehovah Witness faith.
Ms K was giving evidence on the 28th day of the action by the hospital arising from its securing a court order on September 21 2006 allowing it administer a transfusion to her.
The hospital sought the order after Ms K lost some 80% of her blood following a difficult birth and has told the court staff were not informed she was a Jehovah Witness until after the emergency arose.
The hospital contends Ms K's constitutional rights to freedom of conscience and the free practice of religion did not allow her to decline appropriate medical treatment.
She denies the claims and, in a counter-claim, contends the transfusion was a breach of her rights and constituted assault and trespass on her person.
Earlier, Ms K told Mr Rogers she came here in April 2006 to have her child because of the good medical care and doctors here.
She had previously lost three pregnancies and, in Africa, being childless was considered an "abomination". She applied for asylum because she was "desperate to save my baby."
She had given her religion as Catholic to the Coombe and Sligo General hospitals in order to be consistent with the details in her application for asylum.
Mrs K claimed to be Catholic because it was known that Jehovah Witnesses are politically neutral, she said.
On the day of the medical emergency, she said medical staff told her she required a blood transfusion.
She said that, through a friend and translator in both French and English, she consistently said she did not want any blood or blood products.
Ms K said she had a conversation with the Master of the Coombe, Dr Chris Fitzpatrick, but he was "not very happy" with her answers. She was upset when the blood transfusion went ahead against her wishes.
She had told staff that her husband was back in the Congo, when he was actually in Ireland, because she was afraid that if she told the truth he could be arrested, she said.
Ms K agreed she had told social workers some days after the medical emergency that she had become a Jehovah's Witness in Ireland in the weeks before giving birth. This was in order to be consistent with her asylum application, she said.
She could not recall telling the social workers she had thanked Dr Fitzpatrick in a conversation with him several hours after the transfusion occurred.
The case, before Ms Justice Mary Laffoy, continues.