Welsh student, 22, who won right to die graduates

Welsh student, 22, who won right to die graduates



A schoolgirl battling cancer and heart disease who went to court to claim her right to die only to change her mind has celebrated graduating from university.

Hannah Jones, now 22, from New Quay, Wales, was just 13 when she refused to have a transplant.

Her decision stunned the world when she calmly stated she would rather die than undergo more hospital trauma and simply wanted to live her last days in peace.

Miss Jones has now just celebrated achieving a 2:2 in English and Drama from Aberystwyth University and says she 'regrets nothing' about her decisions.



She made history by fending off a legal bid by medics to force her to have treatment for heart failure.

Her local hospital began High Court proceedings to temporarily remove her from her parents' custody to allow the transplant to go ahead.

Miss Jones was required to plead her case to a child protection officer, who persuaded Herford Hospital to back down.



But her condition deteriorated and aged 14, having changed her mind, she underwent a six-and-a-half-hour transplant operation at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The donor was a 40-year-old man who died in a motorcycle accident in Scotland.



Miss Jones, who lives with her mother Kirsty, 51, and step-father Daniel Potter, 53, said: 'I can't quite believe how long it was.

'At the time it happened it opened my eyes up to another world - the fact I was making an impact from America to New Zealand.

'At the time it was right for me to do it. I wasn't going to be pushed into making that decision.

'I was exhausted by the drugs and the pressure I was under and I don't regret my decision. It was right for me to challenge the doctors at the time.

'I changed my mind when I was 14 when I started to think of the things I wanted to do with my life and just thought I have to have a transplant in order to do them.

'If I had chosen to have a transplant earlier then I might not be in the position I am in now. I regret nothing about the decisions I made.'



Two years after her transplant, she spent two weeks in intensive care after being struck down with Swine Flu and was forced to take up to 15 pills a day.

She added: 'I have to look after myself. I don't drink alcohol and have to watch what I eat.

'I still take lots of pills every day and have to look after my heart but I have a future.

'I don't know anything about the donor other than it was a man who died in a motorbike accident in Scotland. I am very grateful for the chance to live..'

Miss Jones, who is dating Phd science student Sum Mistry, 28, is now preparing to start a teaching course at Bath University this September.



On top of her studies, she is also spearheading a campaign to save New Quay's lifeboat being downgraded to an inshore craft.

Her mother Kirsty, who separated from Hannah's father Andrew three years ago, said: 'I am such a proud mum.

'We just hope the family of the donor know how much Hannah has benefitted. This is something huge that was done for us.

'Now Hannah can teach and inspire little children and show others that things are possible post-transplant.

'Hannah is now hoping to help save lives at sea with her campaign to keep the all weather lifeboat. Having had her own saved she knows the importance more than most.'