Eve Hillary - Sarahs Last Wish: A Chilling Glimpse Into Forced Medicine

Copyright 2009 by Eve Hillary ~ Health House

Health House

PO BOX 5165

Chittaway, NSW 2261

Australia

www.healthhousepublishing.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Print ISBN: 978-0-9806629-0-0

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9806629-2-4

Build it and they will come. Field of Dreams

I never cared much for baseball, but the strength and power of Kevin Costners line in Field of Dreams flourished in my mind until I had accomplished two long held aspirations in my own life. In 1997 I started writing non-fiction books on what I thought were important social themes. In my other, vastly different line of work, Id grown tired of working in a medical system that offered patients only the standard one-size-fits-all type of health care. In 2001 I co-founded, with a medical partner, an integrative medicine clinic that provided the community with what I believed was the best of both worlds: both conventional and complementary medicine. Once created, they came in droves: my first book was a best seller, and our clinic was crowded with satisfied patients. Id always kept my two lines of work separate until 2003 when they collided and threatened to engulf the entire field of dreams, which had become a pleasant and helpful reality to so many.

Only the passing years have revealed that this book was pre-destined on the day that 11-year-old Sarah came to the clinic. For the final 17 months of her life, Sarah allowed me entry into her simple but powerful world where right was right and wrong was to be resisted at all cost. If few adults had the moral barometer of this young girl, then fewer still would have the courage to survive her ordeal of being pitted against the powers-that-be only to emerge as the moral victor in an epic power struggle. Yet her life was innocently joyful, painfully short, rich in meaning and heavy with purpose from the very beginning. Her simple wisdom, even under the hellish conditions she was forced to endure, became the stuff that books are written about. However, no story had ever posed such serious obstacles to its publication, including a court gag order that promised a jail term to any writer who wrote about Sarah. From the beginning, dark forces seemed intent on preventing the story from seeing daylight. While Sarah was still alive, many who tried to help her or defend her beleaguered family soon found they were collateral damage and forced to take up their own fight for survival. Even today, after Sarahs death, several individuals and institutions would rather not have this story told.

Sarah herself sealed my fate when she chose me to convey her message. My first step was to write an article about her plight, despite the court order. This landed me in the Supreme Court, but at least for a while it relieved the intolerable conditions that were imposed on Sarah and her family.

Sarahs tragic death in 2004 offered no closure. It only intensified her memory and elevated her lifes message to the legendary quality that demanded to be told. Two years later, with her parents blessings, I became Sarahs reluctant biographer, a logical choice, since I was already a writer and had been personally involved with her health care. I suspected that the Pied Piper would have to be paid for revealing the almost unspeakable truth of what had really happened to Sarah.

Seven years later the manuscript was almost complete but the ruthless Piper was still demanding payment in flesh with compounding interest. The entire episode had tied me up in court for two years and cost me a small fortune. The clinic, which represented both my income and my lifes work, was closed by the powers-that-be. The stress destroyed my marriage and seriously damaged my health. Against the tide of ruinous losses, and despite being denied support and literary grants, I doggedly continued writing the book until the four years of full time writing had finally cost me my house and remaining assets. Half of this book was written from bed during a long bout of debilitating illness that lasted most of 2008. The monumental efforts needed to complete this work which often drove me to the brink of my own endurance deserves telling in a separate book.

By early 2010 Id finally finished the manuscript, but then no major Australian publisher would take the time to read it. The constant tribulations had even flat-lined my small publishing house to the point where financing my own print run was out of the question. After all roads led to nowhere, my son and daughter-in-law loaned me the funds to print the first 500 copies of Sarahs Last Wish. The rest, as they say, is history; the book has gone on to become a best seller. And I have regained my health.

Victor Hugo once said that enemies are the cloud around everything that shines. He also said There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come. Sarahs story is unforgettable and this book remains the subject of countless seminars, media discussions and book clubs. Like Sarah, the book could not be silenced. Its message reminds us to remember who we are, what values we hold, and it asks us if we have the moral courage to stand up for what is right. In that, we can take our inspiration from Sarah, an 11 year old girl who stood up for her right to live and die with dignity.

Thank you to all those who loved and trusted me and who helped make Sarahs Last Wish a reality.

Eve Hillary

Sydney, September 2012

This book portrays a true story, told in a literary narrative form, which is based on over 1000 legal, government and medical documents, dozens of interviews with the Westley family and witnesses - as well as this author's own experiences and recollections of the depicted events. In this book, I have used the real names and identities of the immediate family members, with their permission. Nearly all other persons mentioned in this book, except actual scientists listed in the references have been given pseudonyms out of courtesy and in some cases their physical characteristics, (but not necessarily their conduct) have been deliberately disguised. The names of most hospitals featured in the story have not been revealed. The intention of this book is to tell the family's story, which clearly highlights the need for reform to the current health and child protection system, rather than to identify the specific individuals involved.

The scenes and dialogue play an important role in conveying the story. Often I used the dialogue verbatim from available records, and at other times, I reconstructed dialogue from interviews and recollections. Occasionally, scenes and dialogue have been reconstructed, based on what is known, on the record, to have occurred. The feelings and thoughts expressed in the narrative are based on the family's recollections of what they thought and felt and on their impressions of the events at the time, or at a later date. Some of the internal and external dialogue is based on what is plausibly self-evident in the circumstances.

The Westley family has graciously allowed me unlimited access to all available records, documents and information, while setting no limitations on me at any time during the writing of this book.

The reader can find more information at the end of the narrative in an extensive medical reference section. Most references are listed in-situ, while some are featured as footnotes - all scientific content is fully referenced at the end. The information in this book is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any diseases. The author and publisher are in no way liable for any misuse of the material.