Graduating at 22, the girl who was so ill that she fought for – and won – the right to die at 13
PICKING up her English degree from university was a moment Hannah Jones never dared believe would happen.
Eight years ago, the then terminally ill youngster was staring death in the face.
Aged just 13, she made legal history when she took on doctors in a controversial court battle for the right to die.
The youngster, who had spent much of her childhood in hospital, was fed up with being poorly and told judges she did not want the risky heart transplant needed to save her life.
Instead, she simply wanted to end her days in peace, surrounded by her family. She won, but fortunately changed her mind and had the operation.
Now – eight years later and with her proud parents looking on – Hannah, 22, has fulfilled her dream of graduating.
Last night she said she had no regrets about her choices as a teenager. But admitted she was so grateful to have been given a second chance at life.
‘At the time it was right for me to do it,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t going to be pushed into making that decision. I was exhausted by the drugs and the pressure I was under. It was right for me to challenge the doctors.
‘I changed my mind when I was 14, when I started to think of the things I wanted to do with my life. I knew I had to have a transplant in order to do them.
‘When I look back on all my health problems, I can’t believe I’m in the position I am in now.’
Hannah, of New Quay, West Wales, graduated from Aberystwyth University with a 2: 2 degree in English and drama last week. She is planning to go back to her studies in September to gain a post-graduate diploma in education and has ambitions to become a primary school teacher.
She added: ‘I am very grateful for the chance to live. I would like to meet my donor’s family to say thank you.
‘I still take lots of pills every day and have to look after myself. I don’t drink alcohol and have to watch what I eat. But I have a future.’
Hannah was diagnosed, aged four, with a rare form of leukaemia. Doctors treated the disease with high-strength chemotherapy but a side-effect of this was that she developed a hole in her heart. She spent much of her early years in and out of
‘I wanted to reach adulthood’
hospital and by the age of 13 medics told Hannah that her heart was failing and her only chance was a transplant.
They admitted there was no guarantee the operation would work, however, and that Hannah could die on the operating table. As a consequence, she refused to put herself on the transplant list, and her parents, Kirsty and Andrew, backed her decision.
Hannah’s hospital, however, decided she was wrong and launched a High Court action to force her to have the risky operation, before it backed down.
Then, eight months later, and with her kidneys failing, Hannah dramatically changed her mind and was placed at the top of the transplant list.
Soon afterwards she was given a new heart from a 40-year-old man who died in a motorbike accident during a six-and-a-halfhour operation at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London.
Six months later she went back to school and – despite missing years of lessons – secured the grades she needed to get to university.
Her mother, who has since separated from Hannah’s father, said she was so proud of her daughter.
‘We just hope the family of the donor know how much Hannah has benefited,’ Mrs Jones, 51, a former intensive care nurse, added.
‘Now Hannah can teach and inspire little children and show others that things are possible post-transplant.’
Hannah, who is dating Phd science student Sum Mistry, 28, added: ‘I love my friends and family so much and I wanted to reach adulthood, have a family, have a career.
‘Although people thought I was too young to decide, I’d been through so much I felt I had the right. But everyone’s entitled to change their mind and now I’m so glad I did.
‘At the moment I am concentrating on my future. I have always dreamed of becoming a primary school teacher and in September I’ll start my PGCE. I really can’t wait to get started.’
Hannah said she sympathised with the parents of terminallyill baby Charlie Gard, whose legal fight had reminded her of her own battle.
‘I had to fight for my rights as a patient and the same has been true for the parents of Charlie Gard.’