Cancer girl, 14, is cryogenically frozen after telling judge she wants to be brought back to life 'in hundreds of years'
Cancer girl, 14, is cryogenically frozen after telling judge she wants to be brought back to life 'in hundreds of years'
14-year-old girl who died of cancer has been cryogenically frozen in the hope that she can be “woken up” and cured in the future after winning a landmark court case in her final days.
The girl’s divorced parents had disagreed over whether her wish to be frozen should be followed, so the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, asked a High Court judge to intervene.
In a heartbreaking letter to the court, she said: “I don’t want to die but I know I am going to...I want to live longer...I want to have this chance.”
The girl, known as JS, asked Mr Justice Peter Jackson to rule that her mother, who supported her desire to be cryogenically preserved, should be the only person allowed to make decisions about the disposal of her body.
Shortly before her death in a London hospital on October 17, in what is believed to be a unique case, the judge granted JS her wish. Her body was frozen and taken to a storage facility in the US. She is one of only 10 Britons to have been frozen, and the only British child.
She told a relative: “I’m dying, but I’m going to come back again in 200 years.”
But after a decision that raises profound moral and ethical questions, the judge and the girl’s doctors expressed serious misgivings about the process, which did not go entirely according to plan. Her mother spent the last hours of her daughter’s life fretting about details of the freezing process, which was “disorganised” and caused “real concern” to hospital staff.
The judge suggested that “proper regulation” of cryonic preservation – which is currently legal but unregulated should now be considered.
Cryogenic preservation of bodies does not fall under the remit of the Human Tissue Authority, which regulates the freezing of sperm and embryos because it was “not contemplated” when the Human Tissue Act 2004 was passed.
Cryonics UK, the non-profit organisation that prepared the girl’s body for transport to the US, agreed with the judge.
A spokesman for the firm said: “We expect that future regulation will help hospitals to know where they stand legally and procedurally. The opportunity to utilise professional medical assistance may increase as we become a recognised and regulated field.”
The case can only now be reported because Mr Justice Jackson ruled that nothing could be published until one month after JS’s death. He also ruled that her parents’ names and other specific details should remain secret.
14-year-old girl who died of cancer has been cryogenically frozen in the hope that she can be “woken up” and cured in the future after winning a landmark court case in her final days.
The girl’s divorced parents had disagreed over whether her wish to be frozen should be followed, so the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, asked a High Court judge to intervene.
In a heartbreaking letter to the court, she said: “I don’t want to die but I know I am going to...I want to live longer...I want to have this chance.”
The girl, known as JS, asked Mr Justice Peter Jackson to rule that her mother, who supported her desire to be cryogenically preserved, should be the only person allowed to make decisions about the disposal of her body.
Shortly before her death in a London hospital on October 17, in what is believed to be a unique case, the judge granted JS her wish. Her body was frozen and taken to a storage facility in the US. She is one of only 10 Britons to have been frozen, and the only British child.
She told a relative: “I’m dying, but I’m going to come back again in 200 years.”
But after a decision that raises profound moral and ethical questions, the judge and the girl’s doctors expressed serious misgivings about the process, which did not go entirely according to plan. Her mother spent the last hours of her daughter’s life fretting about details of the freezing process, which was “disorganised” and caused “real concern” to hospital staff.
The judge suggested that “proper regulation” of cryonic preservation – which is currently legal but unregulated should now be considered.
Cryogenic preservation of bodies does not fall under the remit of the Human Tissue Authority, which regulates the freezing of sperm and embryos because it was “not contemplated” when the Human Tissue Act 2004 was passed.
Cryonics UK, the non-profit organisation that prepared the girl’s body for transport to the US, agreed with the judge.
A spokesman for the firm said: “We expect that future regulation will help hospitals to know where they stand legally and procedurally. The opportunity to utilise professional medical assistance may increase as we become a recognised and regulated field.”
The case can only now be reported because Mr Justice Jackson ruled that nothing could be published until one month after JS’s death. He also ruled that her parents’ names and other specific details should remain secret.
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