A matter of faith

It was the ultimate sacrifice for her faith. Beautiful Emma Gough bled to death because she refused to abandon her beliefs and agree to a life-saving blood transfusion.

Her husband Anthony also would not override his wife’s wishes despite the devastating heartbreak he was facing and the endless pleas he must have had from her medical team.

Emma, from Telford, was a Jehovah’s Witness and therefore was not allowed a blood transfusion.

Pregnant with twins she must have known there may have been a fairly high possibility she would need one before she ever arrived at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

As a young married couple Emma and Anthony must have talked about the dangers they both faced and that their children may face in the future but they stood firm. The immediate reaction of course is to rant at a religion that has seemingly robbed two tiny babies of their mother, a loving husband of his wife and an adoring family of their dear Emma.

It was my gut feeling together with one of disbelief that this could happen. That a person, despite years of devotion, would not immediately change their mind when faced with certain death.

And questions must be asked as to whether this stance - religious or otherwise - has a place in a modern society which can save lives which would otherwise be lost.

Should the Bible be allowed to be intrepreted in such a way that it can kill someone? Is that really what God would want?

Feeling the overwhelming sense of tragedy that has hit this community of course I want answers to those questions too. Whether we will get them anytime soon remains to be seen.

But when the instinctive frustration at such a beautiful young woman lost at such a pivotal and happy time of her life has subsided I couldn’t help but feel some sense of admiration for this brave young couple.

Many of us may believe they were foolish to have such faith but when faced with the most difficult and frightening circumstances they remained resolute. They faced the ultimate fear for most people and remained true to promises they had made to themselves and possibly each other.

At such a tender age it showed tremendous courage that often we assume is lost on today’s younger generation. We all too often compare them and less favourably to the young of our two World Wars who gave their lives to protect their beliefs and way of life. Were those soldiers who emerged from the trenches to almost certain death any different really? And they have long been described as heroes.

I dearly wish that things had turned out differently for Emma and her family and hope that there may be a rethink on this stance just as I hope that one day we may live in a peaceful world where no-one is sent to their death needlessly.

But I also want to pay tribute to her because her death should not simply be shrouded in criticism of her decision to respect her beliefs. If there is any blame it lies elsewhere and her darling twins have every right to grow up feeling very proud of their brave mother and a father who did not fail her.