A Bronx mother who failed to stop her daughter's blood transfusion on religious grounds said Wednesday she went to the hospital to console the patient.
"My daughter knows this was not her fault," Ossien Leslie, 79, said of the lifesaving procedure ordered by a judge. "She did not agree to this."
The mother, a Jehovah's Witness, had refused to let doctors at St. Barnabas Hospital perform procedures on her 55-year-old daughter, Jean, a stroke victim who can't communicate.
Doctors, who suspected Jean Leslie had internal bleeding, went to court for an emergency order and performed the transfusion and other tests when they got it.
"They didn't feel the patient would die that day, but it was urgent and that's why they got thecourt order," said spokesman Steven Clark.
Ossien Leslie said her daughter's fate should have been left to a higher power.
"We are not supposed to do that [get blood transfusions]," she said. "We have faith in God. When the Word is in you, that's what is supposed to help you.
"If you want to be saved, you have to let God save you."
Despite her objections, Ossien said, she is happy her daughter's condition is improving.
"She's coming along," she said. "She's eating. She's getting better."
