{"id":4205,"date":"2021-07-29T02:11:06","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T01:11:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/?p=4205"},"modified":"2021-07-29T02:11:37","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T01:11:37","slug":"4205","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2021\/07\/29\/4205\/","title":{"rendered":"Where souls refuse to go"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Pauline Thiele<\/p>\n

In 2010 I was urged to write about our son, Liam, and submit the narrative<\/a> for publication with the Journal of Medical Ethics.\u00a0 The three following three people, in the said order, were my greatest encouragement and support throughout the submission: Andrew Watkins (neonatologist), John Harris (the then editor-in-chief of JME\/bioethicist), and Dominic Wilkinson (neonatologist\/bioethicist).\u00a0 I thank them from the bottom on my heart and dedicate the following poem to them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Where Souls Refuse to Go<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pauline Thiele<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Where souls refuse to go,<\/p>\n

be it far or be it near,<\/p>\n

my words shall be an instrument<\/p>\n

that removes all hate and fear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let me dip my nib in ink –<\/p>\n

may that ink be filled with fire.<\/p>\n

Let me write in cursive script,<\/p>\n

sear the tongue of any liar.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I will take what is unethical,<\/p>\n

turn all that\u2019s wrong to right.<\/p>\n

My pen shall be my sword,<\/p>\n

my words shall join the fight.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let my words heal broken hearts,<\/p>\n

and open stagnant minds.<\/p>\n

Let them speak clearly to the deaf,<\/p>\n

open the eyes of the chosen blind.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I shall write it in a narrative,<\/p>\n

or demand it in a poem.<\/p>\n

Just give me pen and paper,<\/p>\n

and I will walk in Satan\u2019s zone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let my words confront the unethical,<\/p>\n

so truth everyone will know.<\/p>\n

My pen shall take the journey<\/p>\n

where souls refuse to go.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Paper title: He was my son, not a dying baby<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: Pauline Thiele<\/p>\n

Affiliation:\u00a0Main Ridge, Victoria, Australia<\/p>\n

Competing interests:\u00a0None<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Pauline Thiele In 2010 I was urged to write about our son, Liam, and submit the narrative for publication with the Journal of Medical Ethics.\u00a0 The three following three people, in the said order, were my greatest encouragement and support throughout the submission: Andrew Watkins (neonatologist), John Harris (the then editor-in-chief of JME\/bioethicist), and […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":353,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8050,8079],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-death-and-or-dying","category-pregnancy"],"yoast_head":"\nWhere souls refuse to go - Journal of Medical Ethics blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2021\/07\/29\/4205\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where souls refuse to go - Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Pauline Thiele In 2010 I was urged to write about our son, Liam, and submit the narrative for publication with the Journal of Medical Ethics.\u00a0 The three following three people, in the said order, were my greatest encouragement and support throughout the submission: Andrew Watkins (neonatologist), John Harris (the then editor-in-chief of JME\/bioethicist), and [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2021\/07\/29\/4205\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-29T01:11:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-29T01:11:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mike King\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mike King\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/29\\\/4205\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/29\\\/4205\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mike King\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b107957622bc42b2097d15e5e02a112c\"},\"headline\":\"Where souls refuse to go\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-29T01:11:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-29T01:11:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/29\\\/4205\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":265,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"death and\\\/or dying\",\"Pregnancy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/29\\\/4205\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/29\\\/4205\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/29\\\/4205\\\/\",\"name\":\"Where souls refuse to go - Journal of Medical Ethics blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-29T01:11:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-29T01:11:37+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/29\\\/4205\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/29\\\/4205\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2021\\\/07\\\/29\\\/4205\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Where souls refuse to go\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/\",\"name\":\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\",\"description\":\"A blog to discuss the ethics of medicine in its many guises and formats.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/jme-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/jme-logo.png\",\"width\":200,\"height\":50,\"caption\":\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b107957622bc42b2097d15e5e02a112c\",\"name\":\"Mike King\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8caa7ddd85361ccfd46160d9dd41e9ff9aadde6fd8379b80c066d095d69f9f7b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8caa7ddd85361ccfd46160d9dd41e9ff9aadde6fd8379b80c066d095d69f9f7b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8caa7ddd85361ccfd46160d9dd41e9ff9aadde6fd8379b80c066d095d69f9f7b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mike King\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.otago.ac.nz\\\/bioethics\\\/people\\\/academic\\\/profile\\\/index.html?id=774\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/author\\\/mking\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Where souls refuse to go - Journal of Medical Ethics blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2021\/07\/29\/4205\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Where souls refuse to go - Journal of Medical Ethics blog","og_description":"By Pauline Thiele In 2010 I was urged to write about our son, Liam, and submit the narrative for publication with the Journal of Medical Ethics.\u00a0 The three following three people, in the said order, were my greatest encouragement and support throughout the submission: Andrew Watkins (neonatologist), John Harris (the then editor-in-chief of JME\/bioethicist), and [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2021\/07\/29\/4205\/","og_site_name":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog","article_published_time":"2021-07-29T01:11:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-07-29T01:11:37+00:00","author":"Mike King","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mike King","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2021\/07\/29\/4205\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2021\/07\/29\/4205\/"},"author":{"name":"Mike King","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/person\/b107957622bc42b2097d15e5e02a112c"},"headline":"Where souls refuse to go","datePublished":"2021-07-29T01:11:06+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-29T01:11:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2021\/07\/29\/4205\/"},"wordCount":265,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#organization"},"articleSection":["death and\/or dying","Pregnancy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2021\/07\/29\/4205\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2021\/07\/29\/4205\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2021\/07\/29\/4205\/","name":"Where souls refuse to go - Journal of Medical Ethics blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-07-29T01:11:06+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-29T01:11:37+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2021\/07\/29\/4205\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2021\/07\/29\/4205\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2021\/07\/29\/4205\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Where souls refuse to go"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/","name":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog","description":"A blog to discuss the ethics of medicine in its many guises and formats.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#organization","name":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/files\/2026\/04\/jme-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/files\/2026\/04\/jme-logo.png","width":200,"height":50,"caption":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/person\/b107957622bc42b2097d15e5e02a112c","name":"Mike King","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8caa7ddd85361ccfd46160d9dd41e9ff9aadde6fd8379b80c066d095d69f9f7b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8caa7ddd85361ccfd46160d9dd41e9ff9aadde6fd8379b80c066d095d69f9f7b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8caa7ddd85361ccfd46160d9dd41e9ff9aadde6fd8379b80c066d095d69f9f7b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mike King"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.otago.ac.nz\/bioethics\/people\/academic\/profile\/index.html?id=774"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/author\/mking\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4205\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}