Giving life for a life
Michael Cook, Editor, MERCATORNET
Surfing the web is a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it. It’s a big responsibility; otherwise, I’m quite sure, half of the pages on the internet would never get read.
Sometimes, however, you discover real gems, such as the New York Post‘s account of the life and early death of Elizabeth Joice, a New York woman who refused to have chemotherapy when she was pregnant. It’s not a story which interested the New York Times (although it did run a fine feature on the lingering death of French cuisine).
I wonder where people like Elizabeth get their courage. She came from a rough background, raising herself after her mother died and her father shot through. She had been living with her boyfriend for a couple of years when she discovered that her body was riddled with cancer. He disappeared into the kitchen, emerged with an engagement ring made of tinfoil and proposed on the spot. They married soon afterwards. To their surprise they soon discovered that Elizabeth was pregnant.
Her doctors told her that she could either have a termination and chemotherapy or a baby and risk her life. She desperately wanted to bring new life into the world and to give her husband Max a child, so she took her chances. On January 23, her daughter Lily arrived; on March 9, Elizabeth died.
It’s the natural generosity and cheerful courage of mothers like Elizabeth Joice which reveal what children are all about. They don’t come into the world as therapy for their parents’ problems but as precious gifts. They are worth the ultimate sacrifice. I only wish the media would feature more such stories of hidden heroism.
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