Mercy flight for dying Polish woman

♂ [Moderator]

Jun 17, 09, 18:44 #1

Some very tragic news today from my local paper and TV, so sad that the victim is so young.

A dying woman will be flown home by helicopter to her native country to see her son for the very last time.

Polish-born Theresa Wasik has been working as a catering manager in Trowbridge and sending money home to her 11-year-old son. But recently she was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer and has been receiving care at Bath's Royal United Hospital.

http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Mercy-flight-dying-cancer-woman/artic le-1082829-detail/article.html

szkotja2007Threads: 38 Posts: 2,543 Joined: Dec 29, 06 ♂	Jun 17, 09, 19:21 #2
Wings medical group has agreed to fly her back for £6,400, with nurses and doctors volunteering their time. So far about £4,000 has been raised but donations are still pouring in Well done to the generous people of Bath and Trowbridge.

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,160 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	Jun 17, 09, 19:25 #3
It's heartening to see that we can value ONE human life again. For so long, people have been just ticks on a piece of paper and this example gives us hope. Super work. We should club together and show our humanity!!

PlasticPoleThreads: 10 Posts: 5,181 Joined: May 28, 09 ♀	Jun 17, 09, 19:40 #4
Seanus: For so long, people have been just ticks on a piece of paper and this example gives us hope. Seanus, that isn't true. People all over the world do nice things for others every single day. Saying we are all reduced to "ticks on a piece of paper" status is overdoing it a bit. Still it's cool someone does something nice for another.

VincentThreads: 15 Posts: 1,606 Joined: Sep 9, 07 ♂ [Moderator]	Jun 17, 09, 19:43 #5
Latest news just in , she will be flown home tomorrow morning. Local people have donated £9000. A little bit of good news is that she will have some time with her son.

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,160 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	Jun 17, 09, 19:57 #6
Yes, it is true if you know the British NHS. Don't start with your nonsense, lassie. Just like the 1300 people that died as a result of OCL were just stats. We read more about numbers rather than thinking about the loss of individual life. Yes, people do good things every day and many are still ticks. Expand your mind, Miss Narrow ;)

PlasticPoleThreads: 10 Posts: 5,181 Joined: May 28, 09 ♀	Jun 17, 09, 20:00 #7
Seanus: British NHS. I thought British NHS was supposed to be good since it's socialized medicine. Are you saying it isn't?

♂

Jun 17, 09, 21:47 #8

Socialised medicine???? What are you on about? You read a leaflet from its inception in 1948 when Aneurin Bevan famously said, 'from cradle to the grave'. Thatcher introduced General Management and Compulsory Competitive Tendering which made a mockery of Bevan's vision.

It has its good parts and bad parts now but please ask the British members for specifics. I haven't lived under it for 8 years now. It may have undergone some significant reform in that time.

♀

Jun 17, 09, 22:08 #9

PlasticPole:

I thought British NHS was supposed to be good since it's socialized medicine. Are you saying it isn't?

It's not what it used to be, more emphasis is put on paperwork, targets and performance, since the Trust system was brought into the equation, a lot of money has been spent in the wrong areas. We are dreafully lacking behind in areas like cervical cancer, mortality rates are high in comparison to other countries in Europe, even though we spend millions a year on research.

I personally have always had fantastic care but there are others that havent :(

Im sure someone will come and tell me I dont know what Im talking about and that it's all singing and dancing but most of my family work in the NHS at one level or another and it's generally a topic that discussed in great depth round the dinner table!

I do think it's nice what the British public have done for that poor lady though, we do have a sense of what is the right thing to do.

KapustaThreads: 5 Posts: 120 Joined: Apr 29, 09 ♀	Jun 17, 09, 22:31 #10
Vincent: Local people have donated £9000. Good for them. They have given this lady some time with her son and family. Those people should be recognised in the honours lists for their generosity in a time of need and in a time where they gave up some cash that might not necessarily have been spare cash. Good people.

WroclawThreads: 74 Posts: 7,276 Joined: Apr 1, 06 ♂ [Moderator]	Jun 17, 09, 22:35 #11
You'll all hate me for this, but what was stopping the lad from visiting his mother.

niejestemcapitaThreads: 3 Posts: 666 Joined: Jan 3, 09 ♀	Jun 17, 09, 22:38 #12
Wroclaw: what was stopping the lad from visiting his mother. maybe he didnt have a passport..:)

Lir	Jun 17, 09, 22:39 #13
Wroclaw: but what was stopping the lad from visiting his mother. I thought that for a split second but I then realised she may have other family there but more importantly she has gone back to her home and homeland to die, and that is a very important thing for some Polish people...... :)

KapustaThreads: 5 Posts: 120 Joined: Apr 29, 09 ♀	Jun 17, 09, 22:40 #14
Presumably it would be very distressing for her son to be brought to the UK to see his dying mother. I imagine the rest of the family are in Poland. I imagine her wishes were to return to Poland. I assume she wouldn't want her son to be in a distressed state in a country foreign to him with perhaps not many people around to help (people that the boy would know).

WroclawThreads: 74 Posts: 7,276 Joined: Apr 1, 06 ♂ [Moderator]	Jun 17, 09, 22:42 #15
Lir: but more importantly she has gone back to her home and homeland to die, I think this is the bigger part of it, which I understand fully.

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Jun 17, 09, 22:52 #16

Kapusta:

Good for them. They have given this lady some time with her son and family. Those people should be recognised in the honours lists for their generosity in a time of need and in a time where they gave up some cash that might not necessarily have been spare cash. Good people.

The Brits give millions a year to charity, Red Nose day and Children in Need being the two main ones, we're quite a generous bunch! Even in hard times.

ArienThreads: 6 Posts: 1,604 Joined: Oct 20, 08 ♂	Jun 18, 09, 00:59 #17
Seanus: It's heartening to see that we can value ONE human life again. For so long, people have been just ticks on a piece of paper and this example gives us hope. Although it's very sad news, it's really good to know that some people still care.. :') So yeah, I've got mixed feelings about this!

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,160 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	Jun 18, 09, 01:03 #18
That maternal bond is sooooo important. I just wish the Israelis acknowledged the same before they obliterated 750 women and children. How we should have hung our heads in shame as an international community. That was a massacre! So, well done here for giving hope to the young boy, that people care. As Tim Robbins convinced Morgan Freeman, 'hope is a good thing'.

convexThreads: 47 Posts: 7,189 Joined: Nov 25, 09 ♂	Jan 1, 10, 17:25 #19
In the US they have Angel Flight that flies exactly these kinds of missions. They are quite active. I can't find any trace of a similar organization in Europe. Bristol has quite a bit of private general aviation, it's a shame that there is no volunteer organization wiling to help out.

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