When will their grief end?

Mother-of-three Gillian Sexton of Beechwood Close, Clock Face, who lost her daughter in April, 1992 says that the report has left her feeling 'distraught' and had harsh words for the doctor at the centre of the storm, Dick van Velzen.

Tiny Nicola Sexton died aged just eight months after she was born with half a heart.

At the time of her death, the Sextons did not sign any consent forms for the removal of her organs, but later discovered that many of her vital organs had been retained.

Now, almost nine years later, the Sexton family have been forced to relive painful memories of their daughter's death and may even be confronted with the horrific thought of a possible third funeral to bury her remaining organs.

Speaking to the Star, Gillian said, although the report has answered a number of her questions concerning Nicola's death, she feels that it hasn't gone far enough to detail events before 1988. She also feels that other staff at the hospital are to blame, as well as van Velzen himself. She said: "Van Velzen has been used as a scapegoat and there are other people that were involved who have not been mentioned."

She described the past sixteen months, since the discovery of the organ retention, as 'hell' and said that her family will never get over the tragedy: "I feel as though I've let my daughter down, I feel so guilty and these feelings will never go away. I'll take them to my grave."

She advised other parents in her situation: "We must keep on fighting to get the justice we deserve."

SHEILA Rigby of Ormskirk Road, Rainford, whose daughter, Gemma was 6 months old when she died from brain damage, now runs the parents support group 'Pity 2', set up following the Alder Hey revelations.

Sheila said that although the overall response to the report has been positive, parents still want answers to simple questions.

She said; "This report has answered many questions, but it has also raised a lot more. Parents want to know whether Alder Hey have still got organs and what they plan to do with them, but most of all we want to know WHY they took them in the first place.

"We wouldn't have been opposed to organ donation, but we object to the way the organs were taken without us knowing. All we can do now as parents, is bond together to make sure that something like this never happens again."

Sheila said that 'Pity 2' has received a good response from parents, as well as local councillors and wanted to thank Councillor Suzanne Knight and MP Dave Watts for their help. "Their support has been invaluable."

Sheila now plans to set up a support group at Whiston Hospital, which would advise staff how to deal with concerned parents who have received little support from Alder Hey itself.

Ken Sanderson, Chief Executive at Whiston Hospital said: "Over seventy people have contacted our helpline so far and we want to make sure that we don't make the same mistakes that Alder Hey made."

LEADERS of many of the faith communities across Merseyside have also reacted to the Redfern Report. In a statement to The Star they said: "We deeply appreciate such a detailed report that establishes the facts and thank the Enquiry team under Michael Redfern for their work and expressing the values of human dignity. The strenuous efforts of 'Pity 2' and all the relatives to get at the truth are wholly vindicated by this report."

They also sympathised with parents across the region, saying: "Our prayers are with the parents as they continue to grieve for their children through this harrowing episode. We are concerned that the excellent work of Alder Hey and especially its care of sick children have not been undermined and overshadowed by events detailed in this report.

We support the parents' persistent demand for change in the law requiring explicit and specific informed consent from next of kin for use of the body in medical research. The faith community leaders on Merseyside will work with parents and families, if it is their wish, at the appropriate time to hold a memorial service."