Article content

A judge authorized a Montreal hospital to perform blood transfusions to treat a 14-year-old female Jehovah’s Witness with cancer, despite the girl’s refusal “even if it kills me.”

In authorizing the transfusions, the tribunal underlined that it is adhering to laws protecting children, “sometimes against their own wishes” when those decisions could prove fatal.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or 14-year-old Jehovah's Witness forced to receive blood transfusion Back to video

The girl had turned 14 just three months before becoming aware of her condition, and dreamed of becoming a music teacher. In his decision, Judge Lukasz Granosik of the Superior Court described her as “a big girl, bright and articulate,” who does very well at school and “exhibits a maturity above her biological age in terms of her behaviour.”

In June 2017, the girl learned she had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer, and needed to undergo chemotherapy treatments. Such treatments often required blood transfusions, failing which death or irreversible neurological damage are likely in case of haemorrhaging, according to her doctor.