A true life story about a woman who died after being refused blood transfusion. As narrated by a friend: I got the
first
phone call just before 2:00pm. This was Friday 19th octoberb 2012. It was from
my
sister in Lagos She was frantic. Our elder
brother’s wife was bleeding, losing a lot
of
blood, laid out on a bed at the Gbagada General Hospital, Lagos. She had just
delivered
a baby, their second in just over two
years.
My sister informed me that despite
serious pleas from everyone in the family, from
clinical staff at the hospital, and from
concerned strangers, my brother refused
to
give his consent for his wife to have
blood transfusion.
Why? Unfortunately for his wife, my
brother
is a Jehovah’s Witness. I called my
brother
and spoke to him. He didn’t budge. He said his
faith; his religion forbids its members
from
accepting blood under any
circumstance. Though I couldn’t believe
what I was hearing, I said that it was ok. I told
him
that he could refuse blood transfusion
when
he is the patient, but since it was his
young wife at death’s door, he should give
consent
for the treatment for her. I added that
after
his wife has been
saved, he could go ahead and ask for forgiveness from the anti-transfusio n
god,
and once again reconcile himself to his
faith.
He declined.
I then went into the medical aspect of what
was happening. I informed my brother
that
the average male has only about 5.5
litres of
blood in their body. The average female has
even less. I told him that if the body
loses too much of that, there wouldn’t be
enough for the heart to pump, and the
heart
would stop beating. The patient will die. He
still didn’t budge. In fact, he promptly
hung
up on me. I called him back a few more
times
but the young man refused to answer his phone.
I called back my sister in Lagos and
reported
my failure. The second call came at
exactly
3:10pm. This time my sister was crying. The
young lady has died.
I immediately called my brother again. I
wanted to tell him to take a bow and to
clap
for himself. But he was still refusing to take
my calls.
I spent the rest of the afternoon thinking
about religion. I know that religion has
its
many benefits, but I am beginning to wonder
whether these are outweighed by its
negative aspects. Most people appear to
check their intelligence at the door when
it
comes to their religion and practicing their
faith. Unfortunately, my brother is one of
them. I couldn’t believe that an educated
man
(he holds a Bsc from UNN ) would
sit around and watch his wife die when he
could have very easily prevented her
death
by signing a piece of paper. What has
religion
done to us? I called my other sister in Lagos too to
get
more details. I wish I hadn’t. She
informed me
that she spent more than an hour on her
knees begging our brother to give his consent for his wife to be given blood,
but he
refused. He refused her, and he refused
all
pleadings from the medical staff, some of
whom were begging him with tears in their
eyes. He was told repeatedly that
without
blood transfusion, his wife would die. He
wasn’t moved. He informed them all that
if his wife died from bleeding and never
got
blood transfusion, she would go straight
to
Heaven. This is a novel idea. If only Hitler,
Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Abacha and the
rest of them knew this nice little secret.
All
they needed to do was slit
their own wrists and the express lift to
Heaven would have come for them. Then it got worse. I was informed that
the
young lady’s mother (my brother's
mother in
law) was present throughout at the
hospital. The doctors went to her to give consent
for
her daughter to be given blood to save
her
life, but the mother also refused! She too
is a Jehovah’s witness. She maintained
throughout that only the
husband can give consent, she would
not.
In desperation, the doctors called the
young lady’s younger brother who is a junior
doctor
in Enugu. The deceased worked in a bank
and
was the main breadwinner in her birth
family. She paid for the education of all of her
siblings, including that of this junior
doctor.
As the doctors in Lagos pleaded with him
on
the phone to give consent for his sister to receive blood to save her life, this junior
doctor demurred. He directed that she
be given some coagulants and blood
clotting
agents. He was informed that
all of that has been tried but the patient was
still losing blood. In the end, he refused
to
give consent. He claimed that it was the
duty
of his sister’s husband, not his, and terminated the call.
He too is a Jehovah’s witness. A doctor!
What
has religion done to us?
Before this, I have never imagined that
any mother could sit on a chair, fold her arms
and
watch her child die and not do
something
about it.
This was a child she gave birth to and nurtured, and who in turn, had been
taking
care of her in her old age. I don’t know
whether I’m the one losing my mind.
What
has religion done to us? Anyway, the mother and my brother
were
finally called to go to the lady’s bedside
as it
became obvious that she was struggling
through her last breaths. Mama ran in the opposite direction shouting, “Jehovah o!
Jehovah is life! Life is Jehovah!”
My brother took his place by his wife’s
bedside and watched life ebb out of her.
He
stood there and watched her die. What kind
of boldness is that? What kind of cold-
heartednes s is that? When asked why
he did
what he did, he responded that when he
dies, he would marry his dead wife again in
Heaven! Is this logical? I have to confess
that
I am not the most religious person in the
world, but are there marriages in
Heaven? Are we going to continue having more
children in Heaven? More importantly,
would
God be pleased with a person who had
the
power to save one of his children, one of his
creations, but deliberately
refused to do so? It is one thing to watch
helplessly and only give comfort as
someone
lies dying on a motorway, but to deliberately
and actively withhold life-saving
consent?
Especially to your own wife? Your own
child?
Your own sister? My brother has become a latter-day
Abraham.
He even went further by
sacrificing his wife on the altar of
religious
principles. But why are some religious people
like this? Is it the fear of going against
the
grain of their faith’s community? Is it the
fear
of being seen or being thought as not faithful enough by their fellow religious
comrades? Is it the shame of being
considered weak by one’s religious
peers?
And if this is the case,
are these feelings not trumped by love for
another human being?
Personally, I think that it has got to be
illiteracy of the mind.

I heard a similar story some years back. The man (a Jehovah witness member) also refused to approve of blood transfusion for his wife who had lost a lot of blood during delivery saying that 'Jehovah would give her blood'. The woman gave up the ghost at the end.

It's not bad to have faith. Faith does wonders. That's true. But, what this people fail to understand is that God won't come down from heaven and help you do what you can do for yourself. Do what you're meant to do and leave the rest for God to handle.

.

Why tell anybody to sign in the first place before the transfusion.Once you know they are Jehovah's witnesses then here's the trick;take them out for a sumptous lunch and while they are at it administer blood transfusion to save the life of the dying patient.I stand to be corrected if I'm wrong.

Jehovah witness is a cult. Like other cults its masked to appear like christianity with christian metaphors and allegories. The bible is d standard for tru religion and Only THE BIBLE (AND THE AUTHOR OF THE BIBLE,THE HOLY SPIRIT) CAN INTERPRETE THE BIBLE. BUT most people ar too lazy and too timid to take a stand 4 d truth wen theyre confronted wth it. All d lies of other religions ar exposed wen set against the truth of God's word- the Bible.
Sorry folks "religion" has generated mor casualties 4 Satan thn anythg.
Sombody was arguing in this forum against wearg of gold, citg tht Pastr Adeboye's family doesnt
wear gold! Wen i gave him bible verses he still stuck 2 his viewpoint.y because an influential person said Gold wearg is sin.
The bible says u shll know the truth, KNOWLEDGE OF D TRUTH , SHALL SET U FREE. FREE FROM WHAT? 1, lies and strongholds (thinkg patterns/ideologies) tht keep men in bondage.
And thts y d devil wrks so hard to keep people away from d bible - so tht they wont discover d truth and b free. For jw's they have a warped bible where key scriptures are distrted, for catholics, bible readg isnt 4 d laity, for islam it is outright hatred against ppl of d book. Then 4 christians its makg them too bz chasg other thngs to hav time 4 d bible : d goal is one and d same DONT LET THEM GET NEAR D TRUTH SO THT THEY WONT B FREE FROM SATAN'S DECEPTION!!
anoda 1up 4 satan. Ooops too many ppl will b blamg God 4 all d evils on earth like y did He let dat woman die!?

bizmahn: Why tell anybody to sign in the first place before the transfusion.Once you know they are Jehovah's witnesses then here's the trick;take them out for a sumptous lunch and while they are at it administer blood transfusion to save the life of the dying patient.I stand to be corrected if I'm wrong.

So who'll pay the bills? Besides, you'll be surprised that the blood recepient would be the one to sue you for transfusing blood without permission. Those peeps are very funny.

This was discussed some days ago, have a look:

truthislight: Am i missing something ?

To Noah:

1. "But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat." (Genesis 9:4).

To the nation of Israel:

2. "Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings." (Leviticus 7:26).

"For it is the life of "all" flesh; the
blood
of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel,
Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh:
for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof:
whosoever eateth Blood shall be cut off."
(Leviticus 17:14).


To christians again:

3. "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from "blood", and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well." (Acts 15:28-29).


Smh.

Who is then faithful to the word ?

https://www.nairaland.com/1323863/blood-transfusion-sin#16244568

howlongthislife: This was discussed some days ago, have a look:



https://www.nairaland.com/1323863/blood-transfusion-sin#16244568

Are you making a case for or against blood transfusion?
how is blood transfusion akin to "eating blood"?
And the quote is actually backfiring against the argument against blood transfusion - cuz it clearly states
that "life " is in the blood. hence, a person will die if he looses a lot of blood. Hence, he needs life back,
read (needs more blood).

bizmahn: Why tell anybody to sign in the first place before the transfusion.Once you know they are Jehovah's witnesses then here's the trick;take them out for a sumptous lunch and while they are at it administer blood transfusion to save the life of the dying patient.I stand to be corrected if I'm wrong.

Your suggestion can be taken into consideration assuming one is sure the patient and the relative will not sue you when you must have saved the patient's life.
Again if any complication happen to arise, the charges that will be leveled against you might be enough for you to loose your licence to practice.

bizmahn: Why tell anybody to sign in the first place before the transfusion.Once you know they are Jehovah's witnesses then here's the trick;take them out for a sumptous lunch and while they are at it administer blood transfusion to save the life of the dying patient.I stand to be corrected if I'm wrong.

seriously you might be right. If you try that they will call the best and the most experience lawyer in their mist to fight you and make sure you loose ur licence to practice forever. Read their Awake! and watchtower! Such case abound.

That's the problem with religion in general. It encourages people to act in stüpīd and irrational ways against their own common sense. It may seem harmless most of the time, but its not. Religious people regularly delay or refuse to do the right thing because of their faith even though deep down they know they're wrong.

This ranges as from things like sitting at home and "praying for Nigeria" instead of taking concrete action; to people refusing life saving treatment for themselves, their children or their helpless relatives.

Tragedies like the one OP described happen everyday. Its not that the woman's family didn't know that what they were doing was wrong. It was that their minds had been conditioned for so long to believe that if they overruled their common sense and did something that seemed like foolishness, then magic would happen and everything would be alright.

Non-Jehovahs Witnesses who are abusing the woman's husband should stop being hypocrites. The fact is the man behaved in exactly the way the bible said he should. He stood on his faith and his wife died as a result. Anybody who has ever given offering in church despite not having enough money for his child's school fees has done the same thing.

Both Christianity and Islam teach people that believing in things that have no rational basis is a kind of virtue. They have made ignorance and credulity into an ideal. If you try to argue logic with a pastor, he'll likely tell you that its not good to be "too smart" and that you should "have faith" and "just believe, even if it doesn't make sense".

All faith-based religions pervert their member's thinking processes and turn them into irrational mõrøns just like the husband in OP's story. The sooner religious people realize this, the better for all of us.

The bible says 'thou shall not kill'. As a faithful servant of God, if you are confronted by two gun-totting assailants who are hell bent in killing you but you have a slight advantage of shooting first, what will you do?

:-@Cheer foolishness... christianity is good but diverse doctrines have lead people away from God. As for this headlong lead away deceived sect, i learnt that even their Pioneer/GO is resting in pieces in the depth of Hell, as he is being tormented and torn apart by angry demons for kicking against the word of God concerning the existence of Heaven and Hell, i pray God will have mercy and open the understanding of his dumb followers.

touching article