'Freedom fighter' buried. Hundreds pay tribute to Jehovah teen who fought against blood transfusions."
Bethany Hughes Funeral
by Kenneson 18 Replies latest jw friends
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Pathofthorns
You have to admire her convictions and determination. But when they are based on misinformation and it results in death it is a tragedy. And when an entity like the WT knows the broader picture and refuses to allow it's members to understand it, I think that is pure evil. It is beyond a "mistake" but calculated deception.
Path
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JT
All I have to say that in 5-10 yrs when wt changes it's blood policy completely this mother is going to be on Piss off Chick
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Matty
The words of the poem that Bethany wrote just devastates me.
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Scully
Friday, September 13, 2002
'Freedom fighter' buried
Hundreds pay tribute to Jehovah teen who fought against blood transfusions
By LICIA CORBELLA, EDITORDo not mourn me for I'm not dead. I lay asleep upon this bed Awaiting the time when I'll arise
Living in beautiful paradise ...
I've done my best, fought till the end;
Now I'm waiting for 'round the bend'
I know I'll live in perfect peace
Where everlasting life won't cease.
No matter what, death do not fear
For paradise will soon draw near.
That poem was written by Bethany Hughes just days before her death on Thursday, Sept. 5.
Despite her upbeat words, some 400 people did just that yesterday. They gathered at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses on Fairmount Dr. -- which is visible from Lord Beaverbrook, the high school she attended -- and mourned the loss of this outgoing 17-year-old "freedom fighter," who became a hero around the world for many others who share her beliefs.
Owing to a court order, Bethany came to be known in Calgary and beyond as only "the Jehovah's Witness girl" or as Mia (short for the acute myeloid leukemia that took her too early.) And yet, although her full name and identity was not known for the almost seven months since her diagnosis on Feb. 13, this city -- indeed thousands around the world -- have taken an interest in Bethany who "fought till the end."
What she fought AGAINST besides her dreaded disease, was court-mandated blood transfusions. What she fought FOR was the right for "mature minors" to make their own decisions about their own bodies and care.
"For me, my case is about rights," she told provincial court Judge Gail Vickery, during a hearing held at Alberta's Children's Hospital in July, in which she won the right to stop being forced to have transfusions, which are against her religion.
"We live in this great country called Canada where you can say whatever you want and can write down whatever you want and do whatever you want," she said softly.
"We have a Charter of Rights and Freedoms ... but if you're under 18, you don't have freedoms.
"In a year, I'd be a citizen, but right now I'm not a citizen. I'm almost 17 and I can't make a decision that a person one year older than me can make and that upsets me."
The court battle started after Bethany's distraught father, Lawrence Hughes, an architect engineer, disagreed with Bethany's decision to refuse transfusions.
Ironically, Lawrence admitted yesterday that on Feb. 13, the day Bethany was diagnosed with leukemia, he read passages from the Bible about not "taking blood" in an effort to strengthen Bethany's resolve to refuse blood transfusions.
What happened instead was HIS views changed.
That change in interpretation of the scriptures has cost Lawrence Hughes virtually everything. He says he has been shunned by his JW friends. His wife, Arliss, and his youngest daughter, Cassandra, 15, moved out of the family's home the day he made his beliefs known, and his other daughter, Aphalia, 22, barely speaks to him. His legal fees, he says, have reached $180,000. But worst of all for him was the limited access he was given to Bethany prior to her death.
As such, Lawrence did not attend his own daughter's funeral yesterday "out of respect for Bethany" and the family, although he did follow the police escort that closed down portions of Deerfoot Tr. for miles to allow for the lengthy procession to make it's way to Queen's Park Cemetery, where Bethany's body was laid to rest.
Church elder Merrill Morrell told the mourners that Bethany frequently had nurses phone him while she was strapped to her bed to receive one of the 38 blood transfusions she was forced to undergo.
"I said, 'I'd like to be there to hold your hand.' She said, 'well, it would have to be my left hand because Jehovah is holding my right hand.' "
Morrell said between 6,000 to 7,000 cards were sent to Bethany from around the world and "from every walk of life and religion," thanking her for her courage.
Stan Hill, another JW elder, said Bethany struck all who knew or met her as being an "intelligent and articulate young woman," who could read at age four and remained a voracious reader her whole life. But mostly, they were struck by her kindness, decency and "love for others."
At the graveside -- with its view of the city -- Bethany's parents shyly approached one another and embraced for a long time. Shortly afterwards, Bethany's body was buried. But her fight was not.
Court challenges continue before provincial court and the Supreme Court.
In other words, Bethany didn't just "fight till the end." She is fighting beyond it.
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Prisca
What saddens me most about this, is that Bethany died with her nearest and dearest fighting, and with the family split apart. It's sad that her last days/weeks/months were filled with arguements and court intervention, instead of having the peace and tranquility anyone dying should have.
I admire Bethany's determination to fight for what she thought was right. I only hope her last memories were of peace, and not war.
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metatron
and now the final act
Does she get her picture in the Awake as promised?
Do the Theocratic Sociopaths get to use her image to advocate
a doctrine THEY KNOW IS A FRAUD?Let's see how low they will stoop.
metatron
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detective
HEY BROOKLYN-
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THIS GIRL AND HER FAMILY???????EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU WILL HAVE TO ANSWER FOR THE DEATH AND DESPAIR YOU HAVE CAUSED WITH YOUR DEADLY POLICIES. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU.
koolaidkoolaidhoolaidkoolaidkoolaidyousickbastardskoolaidkoolaidkoolaidkoolaid
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voltaire
This leaves me with so many conflicting emotions/thoughts. I'm horrified that the poor gil was forced to take 38 transfusions against her will. We all know how we would have felt about that in the past, before our beliefs changed. In her mind, she was truly raped 38 times, and her own father approved of it. That must have been the most excruciating form of psychological torture imaginable.
On the other hand, as always, I'm outraged at the lies that the WT spreads that cause people to take their own lives. But, as Bethany said, Canada is a free country. If you want to die for your religious beliefs, you have that right. If citizens of a free country truly belief in the WT society, it seems we're treading on dangerous ground when we try to prohibit them.
I still feel that educating people about the unethical recruiting tactics used by the WT, along with their long history of false prophecies and policies that amount to spiritual abuse, is the only way to make a difference.
Ron
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OHappyDay
Why is it continually overlooked that Bethany had the blood transfusions. The blood transfusions did not work. The blood transfusions did not work. The blood transfusions did not work.
And why does the father continually blame others for what he taught his daughter to believe?
People die every day. Let people die for what they believe in.