Posted on 03/26/2007 3:27:31 PM PDT by paltz
A cancer victim has accused his sister of condemning him to death by refusing to donate her bone marrow for a life-saving operation.
Father-of-three Simon Pretty is likely to die from leukaemia within months unless he receives a transplant.
His sister Helen, 43, is a perfect match but he says she has turned down the chance to save his life. Without the donation Mr Pretty – who has a rare tissue type – could be dead by the end of the year leaving his wife Jacqueline to raise their children Rebecca, eight, Jack, six and Benjamin, three.
he human resources manager from Mobberley, Cheshire, is receiving aggressive chemotherapy in an attempt to stay alive long enough to find another donor.
What a donor has to go through Doctors have said that to have the best chance of survival he must find a match by the end of the summer.
He has already exhausted the UK bone marrow register and doctors are looking for a match from strangers on international databases.
"I am on death row," said Mr Pretty. "I can’t believe that she would let my three children lose their father so unnecessarily by her actions.
Helen Pretty has declined to comment "We found a prayer in Rebecca’s coat which said: 'Please don’t let my daddy die from cancer'. That brought tears to my eyes."
Helen Pretty’s Cheshire home is less than ten miles away from the British Transplantation Society which campaigns to promote organ and bone marrow donation.
Her brother claims she agreed to be a donor after he was first diagnosed with the rare cancer, acute promyelocytic leukaemia, in July 2004. He went into remission but then suffered a relapse in February by which time she had changed her mind, he says.
The pair have never been close although their children are similar ages and play together.
Mr Pretty’s wife Jacqueline said: "It is appalling that Helen can stand by and watch her brother die knowing that she could do something to help him. The past few months have been hell."
Mrs Pretty approached her sister-in-law in an attempt to change her mind but lost her temper and was eventually arrested. No charge was brought.
Jacqueline Pretty said: "She opened the front door halfway and I told her that things were desperate and the children thought their daddy was going to die. She said 'Sorry, I am not doing it'. I asked her to give me a reason and she said 'I am putting my family first'.
"I explained that there were no risks involved. I was so upset and I said, 'Don’t you care if your brother dies?' She said 'It’s very sad', and smirked."
The family then received a letter from his sister’s solicitor asking them to keep their distance.
Parent governor Helen, 43, declined to comment yesterday.
She runs a private education business from her £380,00 home in Wilmslow, Cheshire, which she shares with her partner and her daughter, eight, and son, three.
Mr Pretty, who has two masters degrees, is studying for a PhD in industrial relations while being treated in hospital.
He said: "The treatment is tough and it is tortuous to go on with, especially as it would be unnecessary had she come forward. I have had a skin full of chemotherapy and all the side effects but I have a young family and I have to keep my spirits up for them."
Mr Pretty said he hoped that his plight would highlight the lack of bone marrow donors in the UK. He added: "Some people do not have a family member who is a match, even one who will not co-operate."
A spokesman for the Anthony Nolan Trust, which has a database of potential UK bone marrow donors, said: "About 30 per cent of patients could get a match from their own family – usually siblings.
"The chance of finding a match outside of family is very small and there are never enough donors."
A less than exact bone marrow match has a smaller chance of beating the cancer.
Trust chief executive Dr Steve McEwan added: "As with any medical procedure there are risks. However, we are not aware of long-term side effects of the process of donating bone marrow. Donors describe it as a very positive experience."
You are right, it is ugly!
Do you know what bone marrow is? It is NOT body parts.
OK, another piece says:
"..Simon’s sister Helen has two children, aged eight and three..." So the daughter is Helen's and the sex of the partner is not identified.
Gold bless your daughter. What a wonderful daughter you must have. Prayers for both your daughter & the little girl...~Pandora~
That would fall under #3.
I do not see how someone who is NOT willing to Give an Organ would want to Receive an Organ.
Hey! At least you got REAL chicken feet, unlike the FAKE chicken feet I got!!
She looks like a real prize.
I think the writer spun the story to sensationalize the issue and that there is more to the story.
Because there is no stronger litmus test for socialism than in the field of "bioethics," that's why.
Thanks - it does actually. She checked the organ donor box and I was proud of her, but just a little concerned that her decision was binding in the event (God forbid) we could not be contacted.
It could be read as her daughter and her partner, as well. Nevertheless, we don't know her story, although she certainly comes across as a cold woman.
The sister-in-law is incorrect about there being no risks to the donor. Something made her change her mind.
It's the same way people who receive welfare don't want to pay taxes.
The same way how a supposed vast majority wants "universal" health care but doesn't want "universal" tax increases to pay for it.
I think you are going a little far out on a limb with both those statements.
While I applaud your sense of duty to your fellow man, I would consider it wise to temper it with a sense of duty to your fellow men.
Consider this, the fellow you don't know, may be the social equivalent of Joe Stalin, Mao, Fidel, Arafat, Ahmadinejad, ect. One who's lifespan is measured in the deaths and misery of countless innocent humans. You could save more lives by denying your organs.
As for the sister as a sociopath, based on what?, that she might have more knowledge of her brother than you? A little harsh considering what defines a sociopath.
That would be a combination of #2 and #3.
Now, I want to know. LOL
In this case I don't think we can even assume sis and her 'partner' are not husband and wife.
Please enroll in the National Bone Marrow Donor Program.
The life you save may be a Freeper! In fact, I received an bone marrow transplant from the NBMDP on November 26, 1991!
http://www.marrow.org/
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