Gardai were called to a Waterford hospital last weekend after the parents of a two-year-old boy refused to allow him a blood transfusion on religious grounds.
The transfusion went ahead after the boy, from a family of Jehovah's Witnesses in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, was taken into the care of the South Eastern Health Board.
He is now back in the custody of his family and was last night recovering at Cork University Hospital from injuries received when a wall at his home fell on him after a car reversed into it.
He was originally taken to Waterford Regional Hospital, where he needed emergency surgery for chest and leg injuries. Surgeons believed a transfusion was necessary to save his life and, when his parents refused to permit this, gardai were contacted.
The family was informed by a Garda sergeant that the boy was being taken into the health board's care under Section 12 of the Child Care Act. The parents, it is understood, accepted the matter was then out of their hands.
A health board spokeswoman said it did not comment on individual cases but confirmed that the boy was "making a good recovery". He was transferred to the Cork hospital on Sunday.
Mr Tony Murphy, the chairman of the Jehovah's Witnesses' Hospital Liaison Committee in Waterford, said it was the first time, as far as he was aware, that the Child Care Act had been invoked in such circumstances.
Mr Murphy was present at the hospital on Friday and said there was "no confrontation". "We just accepted that that was the law of the land and whether we liked it or not we would abide by it," he said.
Jehovah's Witnesses, he explained, did not accept blood transfusions because the Bible said it was wrong. "There are a number of references in the Old and New Testaments to support that. It has nothing to do with the risks involved in taking blood. We believe that God knows best."
His committee had had discussions with Waterford Regional Hospital for several years to make sure the hospital had as much information as possible on "non-blood medical management . .. We try to get staff to see things the way we see them," he said.
There was a good relationship between the parties. "They understand our viewpoint and we understand the challenge that's facing them," he said.
There was no question of Jehovah's Witnesses being against modern medicine, as some people believed. "It's just this one issue: we will not take blood but we will do anything else to preserve life as long as it does not break God's laws."
The boy's parents could not be contacted for comment last night. A family friend confirmed they had accepted the Garda decision and the matter was "water under the bridge".
It is understood the child was taken into care for 72 hours.
Mr Murphy said alternatives to blood transfusions, such as the synthetic substance EPO, were becoming increasingly available. However, there were only 5,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Ireland so acceptable forms of treatment were less widely available here.
