email PITY II

Today's Date

Events That Have Brought Us To This Day
PITY II Chairman, John O'Hare, addresses the 'Honouring the Memory' Memorial Service

We are here today to 'Honour the Memory' of all of the children who are involved in the organ retention scandal that first came to light for the people of Merseyside in September of 1999.

The one common factor between parents is that we have all suffered the most painful loss, the loss of a child. In some cases the pain is twice and even three times as much to bear - as some parents have lost more than one child.

The second similarity is that we have all learnt that our children's organs were removed and retained at post mortem examination without our knowledge or consent.

We have parents and families within our group who are revisiting the painful grief of 40, 30, 20 years ago and indeed as recently as 1999.

Among our parents are people who categorically stated that they did not want their children to have post mortems examinations.

Some parents consented to limited post mortems. And some were coroner's post mortems.

In all cases permission to retain organs was not sought from the parents.

There are some parents who actually offered their children's organs and were told that they could not use them

Now every parent has discovered that regardless of agreement or disagreement their children's organs were removed and retained anyway.

The children involved range from premature & newborn babies and every age group up to and including teenagers.

The organs were taken from children who had been suffering from a wide range of diseases and also children who died as a result of accidents and cot death.
In some cases whole babies were kept.

Since this scandal was first brought to the attention of the public in September 1999, both on Merseyside and indeed across the country, many second funerals have taken place and as more disclosures came to light some families have had to endure the additional anguish of three and in some cases four burials.

Because of the great number of children involved, there are still many families waiting to have second funerals for their children.

The repercussions of organ retention have had far reaching implications for many families, especially for siblings. Some of whom are learning of brothers or sisters who have been locked in the minds and hearts of their parents, but have been unknown to them personally.

As a result of this scandal all of them have been affected in some way.

One over-riding emotion we all have is the pain caused by the lack of respect and dignity shown to our children. Parents and families feel hurt and betrayed at what has happened to their children and the feeling of hurt and betrayal has been exacerbated, as it now appears that virtually no one is to be held accountable for what was done.

In January of this year we were invited to make a statement on behalf of the Alder Hey parents and families at the Chief Medical officers summit on organ retention in London.

At the end of the summit, the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Liam Donaldson, informed everyone present that he would be advising government ministers that a change in the law relating to organ retention was necessary. And in conclusion he made a promise to the parents in the form of two words

"NEVER AGAIN"

We cannot change what has happened in the past. But we can endeavour to make sure that the events of the past are never repeated.

In 'Honour of the Memory 'of all of the children, we walk forward in the hope of

NEVER AGAIN

At this point I would like to thank all of the church leaders for this service today with a special thank you to Canon Mark Boyling for all his hard work in organising the service. And also to all of you who have come here today in support of the parents and families and for joining with us in honouring the memory of every child involved.

I would like to conclude with a short prayer.

'Grant us the serenity to accept those things that we cannot change
But grant us the courage and the strength to change those things that we can'.

To the Service

 

---

top of the page
Home | Latest News | FAQ | Kidz for Kidz | Calendar | Poets Corner | Contacts/Links | email PITY II