Hospital responds to claim Vance's young relative was denied heart transplant over vaccination status



Cincinnati Children's Hospital issued a statement Wednesday following backlash over the claim it denied a 12-year-old relative of Vice President JD Vance a spot on its heart transplant waiting list over her vaccination status.

The hospital, which alternatively has no qualms subjecting kids to dangerous sex-change drugs and mutilations, suggested that its vaccine requirement is informed by its responsibility "to ensure that every donated organ is used in a way that maximizes successful outcomes for children in need."

Adaline Deal, whose mother is related to the vice president's half-siblings through marriage, suffers from two heart conditions, Ebstein's anomaly and Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that after nearly a decade receiving treatment from the Cincinnati hospital, the girl was informed on Jan. 17 that her heart was failing, functioning at just 42%.

While Deal's heart cannot be fixed, it can be replaced.

'You're just going to let my child die?'

Jeneen Deal, the girl's mother, told WKRC-TV that doctors at the hospital "taught us about the different testing that they need to do and then the vaccinations that they need to do."

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which oversees the organ transplant list, does not issue policies requiring transplant centers to use specific criteria when determining the suitability of a given candidate for transplantation. Transplant hospitals can, however, establish their own policies.

In the case of Cincinnati Children's, candidates must have flu and COVID-19 vaccinations — vaccinations Deal's parents decided not to get her on the basis of religious and medical beliefs.

"I'm like, so if we don't do the vaccinations, you're just going to let my child die?" recalled Jeneen Deal. "And she's like, 'I am so sorry.' She goes, 'This is just our policy.'"

"We approach every transplant evaluation with a focus on long-term success, guided by medical science and an unwavering commitment to patient safety," the hospital noted in its Wednesday statement, which made no explicit reference to the Deal family. "Because children who receive a transplant will be immunosuppressed for the rest of their life, vaccines play a critical role in preventing or reducing the risk of life-threatening infections, especially in the first year."

The family is now reportedly considering taking Adaline to a transplant center in Pittsburgh in hopes of making the list without having to compromise on their beliefs.

A spokesperson for the vice president did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

Vance's relative is not the first American to be rejected as a patient for a lifesaving transplant due to vaccination status.

In 2022, DJ Ferguson, a father in his thirties, was removed from the heart transplant list at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston because he refused the COVID-19 vaccine, which has ironically been linked to risks of heart damage. His mother told NPR that Ferguson was not against vaccinations but was wary about the COVID-19 vaccine because he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation.

"He wants to be assured by his doctors that his condition would not be worse or fatal with this COVID vaccine," said Tracy Ferguson.

Michelle Vitullo of Ohio was in desperate need of a liver transplant, then discovered her daughter was an exact match. Vitullo, suffering from advanced cancer, reportedly underwent multiple treatments to stabilize her health with the goal of undergoing the surgery in September 2021. The Cleveland Clinic canceled the procedure at the last minute, citing its COVID-19 vaccination requirement.

That same year, the University of Colorado's hospital kicked Leilani Lutali of Colorado Springs off its active transplant list for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. Lutali had a donor lined up who was similarly unvaccinated.

"The shot's relatively new, and as a consumer, I'm not an early adopter," Lutali told KDVR-TV. "I wait and see what's going on. I feel like I'm being coerced into not being able to wait and see and that I have to take the shot if I want this life-saving transplant."

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Nazi-tattooed 'Deadpool Killer' Wade Wilson sentenced to death for 'heinous' murders of Florida women



A Florida man known as the "Deadpool Killer" was sentenced to death on Tuesday for the "heinous" murders of two Cape Coral women in 2019.

Wade Wilson strangled 35-year-old Kristine Melton and 43-year-old Diane Ruiz to death within hours of each other on Oct. 6, 2019, in Cape Coral.

Wilson — also known as the "Cape Coral Strangler" — was convicted of two counts of first-degree felony murder and two counts of first-degree premeditated murder in June.

The convicted murderer has a stitched-on smile tattoo on both sides of his mouth, which is similar to that of the Joker's permanent ‘smile’ scars.

A Florida jury voted in favor of the death penalty — 9-3 in Melton’s case and 10-2 in Ruiz’s murder.

In April 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was joined by parents of the victims of the Parkland mass school murder to sign a law that reduced the jury votes needed to administer capital punishment — dropping the previous requirement from unanimous to a supermajority of eight out of 12.

On Tuesday, Lee County Circuit Judge Nicholas R. Thompson found “no basis” to overrule the jury recommendation and sentenced Wilson to death.

"Given the facts of the case, nothing in defendant's background or mental state would suggest that a death sentence is inappropriate," Judge Thompson said before sentencing Wilson to death.

Wilson’s attorney, Lee Hollander, had requested the court impose two life sentences instead of the death penalty. Wilson's attorneys argued that he had suffered brain damage from drug addiction and had abandonment issues from being given up for adoption by his biological parents.

During the trial, Wilson's adoptive parents pleaded for clemency in a letter that claimed their adopted son was "a joyful child."

"Wade was a joyful child, loved his parents and sisters, and was loved immensely in return," the parents wrote. "But over the teen years, and then especially in the early years of adulthood, Wade began to slip away from us, becoming withdrawn, erratic, and depressed at first. Then his addiction was added to mental illness and [he] became, frankly, paranoid and delusional and a sense of loss became increasingly sharp."

The parents continued, "They put a tiny band-aid on it, and then sent him back into the world without a diagnosis, medication, and without follow-up care. We tried to hold pieces together but had no idea how to find the support Wade needed to be the person he was inside."

"In those tragic moments when the cancer of severe mental illness and addiction won, we lost our son, grandson, brother, nephew, and uncle," the family said.

The parents concluded, "Despite everything, Wade is still our son and we love him. The hopes and dreams of his life are already lost, but the human is still in there somewhere, tortured beyond what most of us can even imagine."

Assistant State Attorney Andreas Gardiner noted during the motion hearing, "Mr. Wilson’s decisions were not only pitiless and consciousness less, but they amounted to tragically reducing Ms. Melton, as well as Ms. Ruiz, to nothing more than memories and photographs."

Wade Wilson, 30, is known as the "Deadpool Killer" because he shares his name with the Marvel anti-hero character made famous by actor Ryan Reynolds in the "Deadpool" movie franchise.

Wilson brutally murdered two women within hours of each other.

Wilson, then 25, met Melton and her friend at a live music bar in Fort Myers on Oct. 5, 2019.

The trio reportedly went to another person's home for several hours before leaving in the morning. They allegedly went to Melton's home in Cape Coral. After the friendly left, Wilson strangled Melton to death as she slept in her bed and then stole her car.

Melton suffered bruising to her face and body, hemorrhages on her neck, and contusions to the bladder, colon, liver, and lungs.

Shortly after, Wilson saw Ruiz walking down a street in Cape Coral. He allegedly asked her for directions to a nearby school and lured her into the car.

The Fort Myers-based News-Press reported, "When Ruiz tried to exit the car, Wilson attacked her, beating, and strangling her before pushing her out of the car and running her over 10 to 20 times."

Testimony during the trial claimed that Wilson had "run her over until she looked like spaghetti," according to the New York Post.

Ruiz suffered a nasal bone fracture, multiple rib fractures, a laceration to her left breast, and bruising on both sides of her body.

After the gruesome murders, Wilson reportedly called his biological father — Steven Testasecca. Wilson purportedly confessed to the grisly murders.

The biological parents gathered Wilson's location and told him that they were sending an Uber to pick him up. Instead, Wilson's information was provided to police, who arrested him shortly after.

Newsweek reported that Wilson had several tattoos inspired by Nazis and Adolf Hitler, including two swastika tattoos: one on his right scalp and another under his right eye.

Wilson had a "TTG" on his forehead, "which allegedly stands for "Time To Go" or "Trained To Go." The convicted murderer also has "Bred for war" in big letters under his chin.

Wilson has a tattoo around his left eye that reads: "Why so serious?" This is likely a reference to Heath Ledger's quote in the 2008 "The Dark Knight" movie, where he portrayed the Joker villain. The convicted murderer has a stitched-on smile tattoo on both sides of his mouth, which is similar to that of the Joker's permanent "smile" scars.

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Christian sentenced to death in Pakistan for sharing 'hateful content' against Muslims on social media — and dissenters rally



Pakistani dissenters rallied Tuesday for a Christian sentenced to death on blasphemy charges — specifically sharing "hateful content" against Muslims on social media, the Associated Press reported.

Dozens with the country's civil society rallied in the southern port city of Karachi against the sentence nearly a year after one of the worst mob attacks on Christians in the country, the AP added. Civil society groups stand up for human rights in Pakistan.

The outlet said blasphemy accusations are common in Pakistan and that under the country’s blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can be sentenced to death.

The outlet said several Christians also joined the rally, which was held one day after a court in Sahiwal in the Punjab province announced the death sentence against Ehsan Shan. Khurram Shahzad, Shan’s lawyer, on Monday said Shan will appeal the verdict, the AP said.

More from the outlet:

He was arrested in August 2023 after groups of Muslim men burned dozens of homes and churches in the city of Jaranwala in Punjab after some residents claimed they saw two Christian men desecrating pages from Islam’s holy book, the Quran. The two men were later arrested.

Though Shan was not party to the desecration, he was accused of reposting the defaced pages of the Quran on his TikTok account.

Pakistan minority rights campaigners in Karachi protest the sentencing of a Christian man to death for sharing an allegedly blasphemous TikTok post, July 2, 2024. In an order released on July 1, a Christian man was sentenced by an anti-terror court for reposting an image of a torn and defaced Koran alongside online accusation against two Christian brothers who were originally arrested for blasphemy but released after investigators believed they were framed over a personal grudge, according to domestic media.Photo by RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP via Getty Images

Christian leader Luke Victor called for Shah’s release at Tuesday’s rally in Karachi, the AP said, adding that Victor also demanded action against those who were involved in burning churches and homes of Christians in Jaranwala.

The outlet said blasphemy accusations are common in Pakistan and that under the country’s blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can be sentenced to death.

The AP added that while authorities haven't yet carried out a death sentence for blasphemy, riots, lynchings, killings, and other violence can follow mere accusations of blasphemy.

How are observers reacting?

Several hundred comments have appeared underneath the AP story on the death sentence as published by Yahoo News. A number of them invoked the recent pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. college campuses:

  • "I'm sure the college kids will be protesting this," one commenter noted sarcastically. "(Not really...they wont care)."
  • "Ah, the religion of peace. Where is the outrage on college campuses, where is the UN, the [International Criminal Court], [the] other 'protectors' of human rights???" another commenter wondered. "Dead silence from them all!"
  • "This is the people that the Squad and the university protesters are trying to help. The nicest people on earth!" another commenter stated with sarcasm. "(I had to say this or else they'd come after me!)"
  • "Wonder how many of those pro-Palestinian protesters will react to what happens here, or if their myopic worldview only extends to Gaza," another commenter asked.

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