[This very interesting, if you read the the subject, as showed in the
press, you would think this woman died because she was a JW and refuse
blood. However among reading the story closely something else is
revealed. Go to show you the bias of the media when it come to certain
religious groups or beliefs]

Allison Mallender, a 44-year-old Jehovah's Witness, had been admitted
to hospital for a routine hysterectomy.

After years of severe abdominal pain the mother-of-one was looking
forward to surgery and a lifetime without constant pain.

But during the three-hour operation at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital
in Sheffield surgeons encountered a series of complications.

Mrs Mallender's abdominal organs were stuck together following a
previous operation and she had begun to bleed heavily, the inquest was
told.

As a result there was a significant drop in the levels of haemoglobin
carrying oxygen to her major organs and she lost consciousness.

Although the surgeons had repaired some of the damage she was
immediately placed on a ventilator in intensive care. Although her
condition improved during the first three days it soon deteriorated and
two days later she was dead.

"She did not want to make a fuss about the fact she was a Jehovah's
Witness which is why she had not mentioned it until the day before the
operation," said Professor Ti C Li, who conducted the operation.

He told the hearing that it was rare for a blood transfusion to be
needed during a hysterectomy but not unheard of.

"I asked her if she wanted to go on because of the increased risks,
especially if there was significant bleeding," he said. "But she was
clear in her mind that she wanted to get on with the operation. Having
satisfied myself that she realised the risks, we proceeded with the
operation ."

Soon after the operation began, however, he and the three other
surgeons in theatre were confronted with a series of problems,
including heavy bleeding. For the next three hours they battled to
separate her abdominal organs.

But during the process Mrs Mallender suffered a tear to her small bowel
and was losing a lot of blood. Later, whilst in intensive care she was
given drugs to try to counteract the blood loss but on 11 June she lost
her fight for life.

Mrs Mallender's mother and father, who have been Jehovah's Witnesses
for the last 35 years, are believed to have backed her desire to refuse
any blood products.

The inquest was told that her decision not to have a blood transfusion
was not the primary cause of her death. She died, the hearing was told,
because of a catalogue of problems stemming from the tear in her small
bowel, including multi-organ failure, septic shock as well as her
refusal to accept blood products.

An anaethetist claimed that although her blood level was low, it was
not low enough to end in her losing her life.

Her husband, Daniel, 47, who is not a Jehovah's Witness, was also at
her bedside with their 23-year-old daughter, Rebecca, when she died.
Last night, at the couple's home in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, he
refused to comment.

The inquest into her death, held at Sheffield Coroners Court, heard how
she had only mentioned her religion a day before the surgery. She had
waited for the operation and was determined to see it through, despite
the risks.

Mrs Mallender's mother and father, Alan Iddon, 66, and Isabelle Iddon,
64, refused to speak about their daughter's death or her decision not
to accept a blood transfusion.

As Jehovah's Witnesses they see blood as sacred and according to their
beliefs it was God's will that it should not be shared.

Sheffield Coroner Chris Dorries returned a narrative verdict and said
that Mrs Mallinder died after suffering complications during and after
surgery "and the subsequent treatment regime against a background of
refusal to accept blood products."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=4252
67&in_page_id=1770&ct=5
_________________