Parents to tell 'harrowing' organ retention stories
Harrowing stories will be told today by parents whose children’s organs were controversially retained by hospitals.
Parents For Justice will host its second truth and reconciliation forum in Cork, with five mothers and a father speaking out against organ retention practices in Ireland.
The organisation, which is planning similar events nationwide, says the forums are an attempt to provide a solution for the failures of the Government to properly investigate the issue.
“The stories that will be told will be quite harrowing. However, we believe they must be told,” said Charlotte Yeates, founder member of Parents For Justice, who will speak at the event.
“Tragically, the trauma that many of our members have experienced has been swept under the carpet by virtue of the private nature of inquiries established, the incapacity of such inquiries to properly investigate and the lack of an open and transparent reporting mechanism arising from any process that existed.
“This Government has managed to silence people affected by the organ retention practice by its failure to deliver an all-encompassing and effective inquiry mechanism.”
The organisation was founded in December 1999 by four mothers who discovered that their deceased children’s organs had been removed, retained and in some cases disposed of following post mortem in a leading Dublin hospital, without their knowledge or consent.
Frustrated at not being able to get answers, they decided to speak publicly about their experiences.
Michaela Willis MBE, chief executive of The National Bereavement Partnership in the United Kingdom, will be at the event held at The Silver Springs Hotel from 10am to 3pm. Members of the public and political parties are welcome to attend.
