They're talking about it on the TV and I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the snippets... They're crazy !

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/aug/29/parents-take-boy-brain-tumour-hospital-southampton

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-28978655

 

I don't know why they did it but I hope that they'll come round the sooner possible. I've read that they might have wanted to go to Marbella, Spain.

I'm sure that we'll hear about this story from people we meet while out in service.

Here in France, people in general and the medias aren't so open minded as in other countries regarding the JWs.

Hopefully, a car coming from England with seven kids on board, one of them being critically ill, is likely to be spotted very fast by the cops !

Source : Last paragraphe of the article

Les Témoins de Jéhovah refusent la transfusion sanguine partielle ou totale (plaquettes, plasma, globules rouges, blancs...), pourtant souvent essentielle dans le traitement de cancers.

Cet interdit religieux soulève de nombreuses polémiques, les dirigeants du mouvement étant accusés d'avoir indirectement causé la mort de fidèles due à ce refus de soin.

Les Témoins de Jéhovah ont également encensé dans une de leurs revues des jeunes gens qui ont préféré "accorder la priorité à Dieu" et mourir plutôt que d'être transfusés.

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The JWs don't accept blood transfusion either as a whole or in parts, even though it is often vital for cancers treatment.

This religious interdiction raises a lot of controversies, their leaders being accused of having indirectly caused the death of believers because of this refusal of treatment.

The JWs have also praised highly, in one of their magazines, young people who prefered to "give priority to God" and die instead of accepting blood transfusion.

-----------------------------------

With that kind of paragraph in a newspaper... What kind of reaction can we expect from the general public....???

 

Dear me!

 

I'm watching the news on the TV while dining and the guy just said on BFMTV :

They are JWs and are fleeing the medical cares that their religion forbids....

 

Either the parents have gone nuts or there is a HUUUUGE misunderstanding !!!!

Maybe that they're unaware of the turmoil that they have caused. They are said to be heading south towards Spain and towards Marbella in particular. Just imagine that they think that they're well within their rights and that, as they don't understand French and/or Spanish when they listen to the radio, they may not be aware of what's going on....? Don't they have mobile phones ? Everytime I went abroad to Spain, England and even to the USA (and so on), my cellphone was automatically connected and utilisable. Why aren't the British authorities able to contact them this way...? That's weird !!

I watched the news tonight on the TV and they keep saying that the family fled England because they disagreed with the medical treatments advised by the doctors. They're scathing us, especially one famous 24/7 news channel specialised in sensationalism (BFMTV). I'm not surprised though. The other news programs were way more balanced and cautious in their statements about the JWs.

It takes a long time to drive across France and Spain down to Marbella, which is as south as Málaga. They may have spent the night (9 people in a car, one of them being critically ill, that's not very discreet) in a hotel some place in France near the Spanish border, unless they sleep in the car, which is very unlikely.

Maybe that we'll have some other news tomorrow morning (CEST time).

 

Sad, weird story.

The blood issue to me is a non-issue. Leave it up to individuals.

Refusing modern medical care because ancient pagans used blood in their rituals seems wrong to me.

 

I am wondering if "medical treatments" refers to the blood issue or if it refers to chemotherapy/radiation treatment. Perhaps there will be more information to follow that will clarify this point.

The article says that the young boy has had surgery. But it is possible that the doctors may have advised that he have a "follow-up" treatment of chemotherapy or radiation. The objective of this type of treatment is to kill any cancer cells that may have been missed during the removal of the brain tumour.

(The tumour has been removed but it is still possible for stray cancer cells to remain in the tissues surrounding the location of the tumour. Chemotherapy or radiation may be advised so as to kill these stray cancer cells.)

The boy's tube feeding system is battery operated. So I wonder if the parents have back-up batteries or have access to a battery charger.

Wallflower

 

I didn't go out in service this morning but I heard through the grapevine that the elders in France (maybe Spain too, I don't know) had received an official email telling them to contact the French branch as soon as they learn something about this family...

I watched the news today at 13h00 on France 2 and their account of the situation and the way they talked about it was surpringly professional and factual compared with the other news channel I mentioned yesterday.

They didn't even say that the parents are JWs....

 

This is a YouTube update from the boy's father.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14ETQn9ZPwk&feature=youtu.be

 

I just received a news text on my cellphone saying that the boy had been found alive in Spain with his parents and that the latter ones were being held in custody by the local police.

As for the motivations, they seem to have done it out of despair...

 

Link to recent news about this tragic imbroglio (taken from Robert's website). I'm so glad that everyone's fine and that the father of the little boy posted that video that tells the truth !

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29001388

In addition to the link Wallflower posted last night.

 

Good news !!!!!!!

Ashya King’s parents say he is cancer-free after proton therapy

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...ee-of-cancer-after-proton-therapy-say-parents

 

That's good to hear!