Jehovah’s Witnesses abandon 5-year-old for receiving blood
Jehovah’s Witnesses stand by their religious beliefs but disown son.
A Jehovah Witness man, Kwabena Afum and his wife, Margret Afumaka Abena Oduma, have had a brush with the law after creating an unnecessary chaotic scene at New Edubiase Government Hospital in a bid to prevent medical officers from giving blood to their son.
Kwabena Afum was arrested last week Tuesday and granted a police enquiry bail the next day for causing panic and chaos by allegedly mobilizing some members of his church to foment trouble at the hospital.
He has since disowned five-year-old Jepheth Asamoah, who is currently in the custody of the Social Welfare Department in the district, even after his release.
Full article: http://news.peacefmonline.com/religion/201005/42722.php
Re: Your story from Ghana –
This is, sad to say, a poorly written article. The sources regarding their faith were poorly selected and therefore erroneous. The focus should have been on the reason why transfusion was indicated in the first place. Why was the boy bleeding in the first place? It does not sound like an emergency, so why not use less risky methods of treatment? If he was hemorrhaging, how did they stabilize him? If he IS stable, his body would naturally reproduce the lost blood in a short time. So again, why such risky treatment, when there is no emergency? A simple blood-volume expander would have provided immediate short term benefits and is 100% safe. The comment about the father abandoning the son is ridiculous. If even parts of the story are true, then the son was taken away in order to transfuse him. This must have been very upsetting to the father and son, as it would to anyone who wishes to have safe medical treatment. No Witness would abandon a 5 year old.
This is a good example of poor reporting.For the future, the only reliable source for information about Jehovah’s Witnesses is watchtower.org and they have a department which is available to all doctors world-wide 24 hours/day. You will find they are very well-informed on the subject.
In America, there are many hospitals which have replaced the use of blood transfusion with non-blood techniques. There is less risk and lower cost. It may be worth it to you to inform yourself further on this subject for the benefit of your reader’s health. http://watchtower.org/e/medical_care_and_blood.htm