We all deserve to live for as long as we can

HELEN Hims puts forward a very convincing case for the immediate easing of lockdown. Happily the government and various advisors take a more balanced view.

Ms Hims says that “Covid-19 poses little threat to all but the very old and very ill”. I am reminded of two examples which made headline news around the world some years ago...

The first, Dr Christaan Barnard, working at the Groote Schuur Hospital in South Africa, had devised a method of transplanting a heart, with the potential to save many lives. The proposed recipient, an old and very ill man had the dangers inherent in the operation explained to him. Including that even if successful it may only give him days or weeks of life. He is said to have replied: “Do it doctor, even if it only gives me a few minutes.”

The second concerns a young girl aged about nine, in need of a heart transplant. Her medical team had said that the operation was unlikely to be successful, she had already undergone several surgical procedures and had suffered enough, they should give up and let her die in peace. Her parents took the matter before a court where the girl, known to us as ‘child A’ was asked for her opinion. To which she was reported as saying: “I’ll never give up, not while I have a breath in my body.”

Life is precious, once it is gone it cannot be brought back. Even the old and ill deserve to live as long as they can.

In November 2020, the death toll in the UK was around 45,000. Then people wished to be allowed to celebrate Christmas... The result was that the UK death toll from Covid-19 is now almost 140,000. To some, this massive tragedy does not matter – just so long as it’s not their friend or family who dies.

Mike Baker St Austell