Here is another experience via a comment on this story at AJWRB. This one does not have a happy ending, and it yet another factor in why our death estimate is low:
JV
on August 18, 2017 at 1:29 PM
During one of my travels, I met a fellow about my age (in his
late 60s) at an ex-JW meetup. He learned about me while reading articles
on the Internet and was looking forward to having a conversation.
During our conversation, he literally broke down and cried right in
front of me. It is rare to see a man of his age just completely break
down like that – but he could not control his emotions. I just sat there
and waited until he was able to regather his composure.
“I killed my father. I didn’t want to do that – I wanted him to live.
But I felt I had no choice. I refused to let him have a blood
transfusion. I looked at his eyes and I could see him begging me to
allow him a chance to live – and I refused. I’ve carried that burden of
guilt ever since.”
Then he shared a most shocking revelation: His father was not, and
never had been a Jehovah’s Witness. While his father was struggling to
live waiting for him to allow the doctors to proceed with needed
treatment that included one or more transfusions – he blocked them from
performing their healing therapy. “I might as well have pointed a gun at
my fathers head and pulled the trigger,” he added – tears streaming
down his face.
I won’t go on with his story because I do not want to give away more
information about him that might identify who he is. My point is that
the elders were able to convince him to engage himself and force their
blood transfusion policies on a man who was not, and never had been a
JW. He remarked, “If there ever was a case of ‘blood guilt,’ I am it. I
was truly responsible for the death of my own father.”
I’ve completely lost contact with that fellow over the years, so I do
not know his current status. I do hope that he sees this and send me a
reply. But the point is that those elders truly carry the blame (or at
least part of it) for convincing someone to withhold a blood transfusion
from a parent who was never a JW. The same thing applies to JW parents
making those same decisions for their ill children – babies who never
had a chance to make their own choices. If there is a “God” – I can not
imagine that he-she-it would ever have intended for anyone to die
needlessly over a ridiculous rule from 3500 years ago. I could almost
imagine Him saying, “Jesus Christ! I gave you the knowledge of how to
utilize blood transfusions to save lives – and now you reject my gift?
What the hell are you thinking?!!!!”