British teen who won right to refuse heart transplant changes mind, has operation, media say
By APWednesday, July 29, 2009
UK teen who refused transplant has operation
LONDON — British media outlets say a teenager who won the legal right to refuse a lifesaving heart transplant has changed her mind and had the operation.
Fourteen-year-old Hannah Jones made headlines last year when she successfully fought doctors who went to court to force her into a hospital.
Hannah has cardiomyopathy, in which the heart muscle becomes swollen and sometimes fails. She said she was exhausted by years of treatment.
Last week, she told The Times of London newspaper that she had decided “there were more benefits to having a new heart to staying like I was.”
The Sun newspaper reported Wednesday that Hannah was having a transplant at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, citing what it described as a family friend of the girl’s whom it did not identify.
The hospital confirmed Hannah was a patient but would not comment on her treatment.
