A teenager who suffers from a serious illness, has spoken out against NHS doctors after their attempt to withdraw lifesaving treatment.
For over a year doctors have told ST she only has days left to live yet, she continues to outlive their estimates and has done so since she was a child. She has now dictated her story from an intensive care unit.According to the Mirror, she told the Mail Online: “By the time you read this, I could be dead. That's according to my doctors who, for the last year, have repeatedly told me that I have had only days to live. But I am a fighter and will continue to fight.
While her MDS has caused kidney damage, muscle weakening, and a loss of hearing, she claimed it has not affected her brain and she's hoping to return to her A-level studies soon. Although her doctors said she is “actively dying” the teenager says she still likes to message her friends, watch love island and play board games.
ST suffers from the same illness as baby Charlie Gard, whose life support was withdrawn in 2017, following a court battle that dominated the news cycle. Similarly to baby Charlie's case, ST has been pitted against the institution meant to safeguard her health. Charlie's illness was diagnosed much earlier than hers, which began when she lost her hearing at the age of four, taking nearly ten years to become fully apparent.
Her father said: “We were just told her hearing was deteriorating, nothing more. Except for her hearing loss and drooping eyelids [a condition known as ptosis], her overall health was fine.” ST had cochlear implants which enabled her to hear clearly, as well as corrective surgery on her eyelids and she stayed in mainstream education. Her brother said: “She loved PE lessons, including events like sports day. She would always win the egg-and-spoon race.
ST said the hospital first took legal action in April this year after she “stubbornly refused to die” despite repeatedly being told she had just days to live. She added: “They took me to court to remove my life-sustaining treatment and to impose a gagging order making it illegal for me to talk [publicly] about the existence of court proceedings or mention the hospital involved”
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