UK Parents Distraught Over Court’s Decision to Withdraw Life Support for their Baby Suffering from Rare Genetic Disease

The parents of terminally-ill baby Charlie Gard are ‘utterly distraught’ and facing fresh heartbreak after losing their final appeal in the European Court of Human Rights. They lost their court bid asking to be granted leave to take the baby to the United States for medical treatment.

According to Daily Mail The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday said it concurred with a British decision to withdraw life support for their baby, who suffers a rare genetic disease.

Chris Gard, 32, and Connie Yates, 31, from Bedfont, West London raised almost £1.4million in order to take their 10-month-old son – who suffers from a rare genetic condition and has brain damage – to the US to undergo a therapy trial. Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, where Charlie is being cared for, said they wanted him to be able to ‘die with dignity’.

Two weeks earlier, the Strasbourg-based European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) issued an interim ruling, binding on the British government, that doctors should keep providing treatment for 10-month-old Charlie.

That finding ran counter to rulings by British courts that the baby should be allowed to die with dignity, despite an appeal by his parents to take him to the United States for treatment to treat his rare form of mitochondrial disease.

A statement from the ECHR said:

“Today the European Court of Human Rights has by a majority endorsed in substance the approach by the domestic courts and thus declared the application inadmissible. The decision is final.”

After the final ruling on the 27th of June 2017, the Strasbourg court backed the British judges. A spokeswoman for Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, which has been treating Charlie, acknowledged his parents would find the news upsetting.

“Our thoughts are with Charlie’s parents on receipt of this news that we know will be very distressing for them. Today’s decision by the European Court of Human Rights marks the end of what has been a very difficult process and our priority is to provide every possible support to Charlie’s parents as we prepare for the next steps. There will be no rush by Great Ormond Street Hospital to change Charlie’s care and any future treatment plans will involve careful planning and discussion,” the spokeswoman said.

Following the events of how this started, from August 6, 2016 when Charlie Gard was born to September 2016 when he was diagonised with the mitochrondial DNA depletion syndrome till date, his parents have remained strong. Here’s wishing them continued strength to deal with this saddening news.

Photo Credit: The Daily Mail