OK, first things first, accept our apologises for using the ‘R’ word, especially so early on in our article, but this is the response Rivera’s mother had from a doctor at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Chrissy Rivera’s daughter was born with a rare disability called Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. The condition affects 50,000 children worldwide. Those who have the syndrome are born with a wide nose, large forehead, are prone to epilepsy and have mental disabilities.
Due to these and further complications Amelia needs an urgent kidney transplant within the next twelve months but after being told her daughters operation had been rejected because of her disability Chrissy aired her anger on CBS Philadelphia.
"We were told many times throughout the meeting that she cannot have the transplant because she's considered mentally retarded,” Chrissy told the reporter. She went on to reveal the hospital told her that they were happy to let her daughter die.
You may think one of the problems was trying to find a suitable donor, but this had already been taken care of as somebody ion Chrissy’s family had already offered up one of their kidneys! But the doctor allegedly told her mother she would not be eligible due to her mental disability and quality of life.
The hospital replied by posting the following message on its Facebook page...
“While we remain unable to comment on individual CHOP patients or cases due to laws that protect patient privacy, we wish to state again that we do not disqualify potential transplant candidates on the basis of intellectual abilities. We have transplanted many children with a wide range of disabilities, including physical and mental disabilities.”
Thanks to social networking sites, such as Facebook and the publicity Chrissy has generated the story went viral spreading the word of the dreadful service the American hospital gave to a mother of a disabled daughter fighting for her life.
