[wwwater]

That's a very stupid decision to make from her side. She had small children, so every additional year she lives is immensely important for her children. To die in the next year is just 0.05% probability, to die now - 5%. Even if she dies in 10 years, these 10 years of her life would have been an unmeasurable gift to her children comparing it with her dying on the operating table.

The surgeon had to do the math with her, instead of wondering, whether she understood the risks or not.

Unfortunately, many people are illiterate with numbers, so you cannot assume that in that person's head numbers like 5% and 0.05% do not both translate to "negligibly small".