An image from Denise Green's installation

Denise Green's son William was born in 1992 with a heart disorder, though he was never seriously ill. He was an outpatient at Alder Hey hospital on Merseyside, and when he was 18 months old it was suggested that he had an operation to correct his heart defect. Shortly after the apparently successful operation, William suffered a heart attack and died. Years later Denise found out that William was one of the children whose body parts had been removed, without permission, on their deaths and stored for possible use in medical research.

The issue of organ donation had never come up at the time of William's death. "They should have sat down and explained what was going to take place, because little did we know the following morning William's organs were totally stripped". It was five years before they found out the truth, from reading an article in the newspaper about another family. "It made me curious, and I wanted to find out was our son involved".

Denise was totally shocked to be told that the hospital did in fact have William's organs. At first she thought it was only his heart that had been taken, but later she was given a list and they had taken virtually all his organs, and were reluctant to admit as much to Denise. She was told that they had been removed for 'research purposes', but as Denise pointed out they should have been informed of such a thing. "It was done without our knowledge or consent". Denise was understandably devastated.

The Greens contacted a solicitor, and wrote to the hospital requesting the return of William's organs. They went through an undertaker, who collected the organs in a sealed casket. It was important to the Greens that they had a list of what was being returned to them, so that they could feel reassured that they had everything that had been mentioned. "I said I don't want to go through this again, and I want you to promise me we have everything". The Greens were reassured that this was the case, so they went through the painful burial procedure again, though added to their grief this time were feelings of anger and outrage, and a feeling of betrayal.

Denise still struggles with the question of who to direct her anger towards : "Who is to blame, who is responsible. So many, many questions that are still left in the dark. Even today there's still unanswered questions".

Sadly that wasn't the end of the story. Having managed to settle down and tried to rebuild their lives, the Greens were phoned a year later by the hospital and told that the hospital still had part of William's brain, the cerebellum. It had been at a university, and had been returned to the hospital. Denise could hardly believe it, but was adamant that they wanted to treat every part of William's being with dignity and respect, so they had to go through the whole burial procedure for a third time.

This time Denise had little confidence in the hospital telling her that they had no more of William's remains. "If I have to open his grave ten times I will". People could not understand some people's attitude that they were making a big deal out of what was 'only organs'. As far as Denise is concerned "they're our son's organs". They have left the medical investigation to the professionals.

Just before William died, Denise had decided to go to art college. She went on to do her BA in Visual Arts. Though she had not really intended to make a piece of work about her involvement in the Alder Hey scandal, that's how her work evolved and she has eventually produced a work which very much caught her emotions (and those of other parents) of anger, sadness and disappointment. Denise's installation is a dark theatre setting, which she intended to be reminiscent of the basement in which William's organs would have been housed. The images that are part of the work include shelving and jars, with organs within them, images of children, and reminders of children.

Creating the work was a fantastic outlet for Denise. Denise feels that she still has a voice, though her son does not, and because what happened to William and the other children was such a violation, she want her work to make a statement. "It speaks volumes. It does make a statement to the medical profession - don't lose the touch of humanity...always remember human dignity".

Denise Green's installation is part of an exhibition by students on the BA Visual Arts programme at Bolton Institute, being held at Bolton Museum and Art Gallery for three weeks from March 11th.