Sudiksha Thirumalesh was seriously ill from a rare mitochondrial disease which affects muscle strength in particular. Her mind was unaffected and she was fully conscious…and she was an A-level student!
She died last September of a “cardiac arrest” during the time her NHS doctors were trying to have her life support removed legally — which was against her wishes and the wishes of the family.
Today, the Court of Appeal overturned a judgment which declared Sudiksha mentally incompetent because she disagreed with her doctors’ advice to stop life-saving treatment.
A more complete report is available from CHRISTIAN CONCERN: HERE.
Thankfully, the courts gave the family the rare right to appeal this judgement posthumously.
Giving the judgment of the Court, Lady Justice King said that “it is essential always for any person conducting a capacity assessment” to remember that, under the Mental Capacity Act, a “person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision merely because he makes an unwise decision.”
One of the egregious legal decisions was that the family were even barred from using her name till late September 2023. That hampered their right to raise funds for an experimental treatment which is available in Canada.
Her parents said:
“From the moment the judgment [of incompetency] was made, it gave the clinicians the power to do whatever they liked, with no respect for Sudiksha’s own wishes and treating her family with hostility and contempt. No real effort was made to secure a clinical trial of nucleoside therapy, which might yet have saved Sudiksha’s life. May God forgive all those who have done this to her.”
Sudiksha wanted 'to die trying to live.'
Please pray for Sudiksha and the Thirumalesh family.
Show her respect by saying her name!
Kevin Hay
You can follow Kevin on 𝕏 ( Twitter / Twi𝕏 ) @ kevinhay77
Previous articles on the case at:
and,
https://www.catholicarena.com/latest/2023/9/15/patient-st-has-died