Blood Not Saved for Transfusion

As the subject of the article, “Woman Hurt by Tree Limb Gets $150,000” (The Times, Feb. 23), I would like to point out a section that implies an incident that never really happened.

Your paper stated my surgery was successful because my “own blood was saved for transfusion.” The implication was that I or my surgeon had saved my blood for a potential transfusion. This was not the case.

As one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, my religious beliefs forbid the transfusion of blood in any form. I want to unequivocally state that I had never consented to a blood transfusion and that my physician and hospital respected my wishes.

A machine called a shed blood collector, which collects and filters any blood shed during surgery and returns it in one continuous cycle, was on standby as a precaution, but was not needed, as only a small amount of my blood was lost during the operation. No blood was saved for this surgery.

ROSALYN STEPHENS

Commerce