Doctor found to help Charlie leave hospital
Print Edition
THE parents of Charlie Gard have found a doctor willing to look after the terminally ill baby so they can spend time with him away from hospital during the last days of his life, their lawyer told a London court yesterday.
The 11-month-old baby, who suffers from an extremely rare genetic condition causing progressive brain damage and muscle weakness, has been the subject of a bitter dispute between his parents and the London hospital where he is being treated.
The case has resonated far and wide, triggering a heated debate about who should decide a child’s fate and drawing comment from US President Donald Trump and Pope Francis.
Charlie’s parents, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, have agreed to let their son die, but they wanted to take him home and spend several days with him before his ventilation tube is removed. Great Ormond Street hospital said on Tuesday that would not be possible for practical reasons.
At yesterday’s hearing, the parents’ lawyer Grant Armstrong told the London High Court that they had found a doctor who was willing to look after the baby at home or in a hospice.
It was not clear which of those is the option being pursued by the family.
The doctor, who Armstrong said had experience in intensive care and ran a team of pediatric doctors, was on his way to give evidence.
He said a private nursing team would be able to assist, as well as some Great Ormond Street nurses who had volunteered.
He also said the parents’ team had been in touch with suppliers of ventilators who were able to deliver one within 24 hours.
Nicholas Francis, the High Court judge who has presided over an agonizing series of hearings on the case, had given the parents until yesterday to find a team of intensive-care specialists willing to oversee Charlie’s care at home.
Failing that, the judge had been expected to make a ruling on where Charlie’s life should end — hospital, hospice or home.
After Armstrong’s remarks, the hearing was adjourned to await the doctor’s arrival.
On Tuesday, the judge had indicated that the best option for Charlie’s death may be a hospice — a possibility supported by the hospital and preferred by the parents to their son remaining at Great Ormond Street.
Yates and Gard had wanted to take him to the United States to undergo experimental treatment, against the advice of Great Ormond Street doctors who said it would only prolong the baby’s suffering.
British courts, backed by the European Court of Human Rights, refused permission, saying the parents’ plan was not in Charlie’s best interests.
The parents gave up the legal battle on Monday, saying the latest scans showed Charlie’s condition had deteriorated to the point that no recovery was possible. But they remain convinced that the treatment might have helped Charlie had he received it months ago.
The hospital disagrees. It says Charlie had suffered irreversible brain damage by January as a result of a series of seizures, and his responsiveness has not changed since then.
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