No Parent Should Ever Hear These Words
Fifty years later and it still haunts me
In the quiet halls of a hospital wing, a young mother waits.
If you are a parent hoping and praying for your sick child, it can be unbearable. You feel helpless. Heart ache grows with every waiting moment.
Finally, you hear the words no parent should ever have to hear.
It was 1965. Pediatric medicine was much different. Back then, doctors still thought it was fine for pregnant women to smoke and drink. It was not uncommon for your family doctor to smoke.
At ten months old, the infant lay helpless as doctors poked and prodded, trying to figure out what made him sick. His white blood count was sky high indicating a severe infection somewhere inside, but showed now outward sights to guide the physicians to the source.
At one point the boy's veins began to collapse. One of the doctors had to cut crosswise across the front of one ankle in order to insert an IV. The clock was ticking. No one knew what was wrong.
Then came the words no parent should ever have to hear…
“Please take your son home to die. There is nothing more we can do.”
