11 July 2011 One Comment Email This Post

A 13-year-old girl sick with cancer could be saved by an operation that would amputate her hand — if her mother would allow the procedure.

“The girl suffers from an aggressive malignant tumor,” Dr. Dror Levin wrote in a petition to the Tel Aviv district family court. “Without treatment, it will spread to the soft tissues; beyond doubt, the disease is fatal in 100 percent of the cases if not treated.”

Levin recommended the aputation, saying it would give the girl a 60-65 percent chance at survival.

The girl’s mother, however, is adamant that the only treatment needed is fasting and prayer. Social service workers described her as a “stubborn pious woman” and said she continued refusing the surgery even after the doctor’s warnings, saying her daughter “would be better off dead” than missing one hand.

The girl began to cry after hearing her mother’s comment, but accepted her decision. “I understand I have no other choice,” she said.

The woman has raised her daughter alone for several years since the death of her husband.

Even after Rabbi Firer, founder of Ezra LeMarpeh, agreed with the doctor’s assessment, the woman refused to authorize the operation.

The court ruled that police must get involved if the mother continues to refuse treatment. “No parent has the right to take action or withhold action that might lead to the death of his child,” Judge Yehoram Shaked wrote. ”Safeguarding a life supersedes all other matters.”

The girl remains hospitalized at Sheba Medical Center. Doctors say delaying the surgery by a few days does not place her in special danger.

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Source: Ynetnews

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