Life for Ruth

Ruth!

Time to go!

Ruth!

Ruth, your mum wants you.

He'll get yourself run over going off like that.

He will not.

Come on, Ruth, love, your dad wants to get off.

Hey, where are you going?

Off to the cliffs to see my granddad.

Can I go too?

You ask your mother and I'll ask mine.

Mommy?

Mommy?

Mommy?

Mom!

Can I go down and play wit Ruth?

You can go anywhere you like

if you belter with that racket.

Have you been asked, Teddy?

I will be in a minute.

Oh, very well then.

Thanks, Mom.

Oh, great lump you're getting.

Oh, Daddy.

My dad says I can come to the cliffs with you, Mr. Harris.

Did he?

All right, jump in then.

Seems your Teddy is coming up to the cliffs with out Ruth.

Very kind of you, John.

Hey, hey, my ball, I forgot it.

- Here it is. - Thanks, Mommy.

Forget your head next.

Now give our love to your granddad

and tell him I'll be down when done with the shopping.

Be a good girl.

I'll keep an eye on her, Mrs. Harris.

- Bye. - Bye, love.

See you after work.

Bye, bye, Daddy.

All right, love?

Smashing.

I'll take this wood up to your granddad.

Oh, I'll go up with it now.

No, it doesn't matter, you stay and enjoy yourself.

I'll give you a shout when your dad comes.

Okay, Mommy.

Hello, son.

Hello, Father.

Where's Pat?

She's down on the beach with the children.

A lot of driftwood came in last night.

The getting some for me.

Hey, that's my ball!

Well, you could always swim for it.

You swim!

You kicked it in!

She's afraid of the water.

Go on, I dare you.

Come on, Ruth.

Teddy, honest, it doesn't matter.

We'll take that boat there.

Can we get it loose?

We'll have a go.

I can't see it.

There, there it is.

Well, I don't think I'll climb that again.

Thank you, Pat.

I've got a nice fire going.

It'll be warm for you when you come in for your tea.

It's bleak for him living up here.

I wish we could persuade him to stay with us.

Oh, he'd never leave, he loves it up here.

I know how he feels.

John!

They're going on the rocks!

Get father, tell him to get a boat out there quick.

Dad!

Daddy, Daddy!

Daddy!

Daddy!

Daddy!

Daddy!

Daddy!

Daddy!

Daddy!

Help!

Help!

Help!

Daddy!

Help!

Hang on, Ruth, I'll come back!

Dad, come back, come back!

Don't leave me!

John, get Ruth!

Ruth!

Come back, Daddy, come back!

Give him to me!

Get back to Ruth!

We'll get as near as we can.

We can't go alongside, they'll tear us to pieces.

The boy's all right, packed him off home.

Girl's parents here?

Yes, they're waiting.

What are they like?

Young, nice.

He's a maintenance engineer at the pit.

Uh-huh.

Good evening.

I'm Dr. Brown.

How is she?

How's Ruth?

Is she in danger?

Please, tell us the truth.

Your little girl is very ill.

She has a haemoglobin reading of only 30 percent.

What does that mean?

It means that she has less than half

the amount of blood she ought to have.

I'm afraid it severed an artery.

Ruth is well below the danger line, Mrs. Harris.

What are you going to do?

We're going to give her a blood transfusion straight away.

Fortunately, she belongs to a common group.

She'll be no trouble in that direction.

Once the new blood begins to work,

she'll pick up, be well on my way to recovery.

You know, it's astonishing recuperative powers

young children have.

No.

No, what, Mr. Harris?

She mustn't have a blood transfusion.

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear.

The child is dying.

Yes, Mrs. Harris, dying.

She needs red blood cells at once.

But giving and taking of blood is against our religion.

Religion?

What's religion got to do with it?

A transfusion will save her life.

It will deny her everlasting life.

Everlast...

A blood transfusion?

It's against God's law.

What law?

There can't be any law that...

"Whatsoever man eateth any manner of blood,

"I will set My face against that soul."

That's just a legend, man.

Thousands of years old,

but we're not living in the Dark Ages now.

God's word is as true today as it was then.

Mr. Har...

Wait here, please.

He said he could save her.

You must see the choice for her.

- I don't want to. - You must.

A momentary existence now or...

Or the glory of eternal life with God.

If we weaken, Pat, we destroy her.

Richard!

Richard!

I've got one of these religious cranks on my hands.

Refuses to allow his child to have a blood transfusion.

If she doesn't get it, she'll be dead in an hour.

Can you come, please?

Oh, I wish I'd left five minutes earlier.

Good evening.

Evening.

This is Dr. Harvard, he's just examined your daughter.

Would you listen to him, please?

Mr. Harris, I know something about your faith

and I'm fully aware of the rule concerning transfusion

but you've gotta think clearly now.

Your daughter will die unless she receives

immediate and proper attention.

Dr. Brown just told us that.

Oh, for heaven's sake, Harris.

No.

No.

Are you going to be able to live

with her death on your hands?