{"id":17605,"date":"2017-07-31T10:24:51","date_gmt":"2017-07-31T14:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/?p=17605"},"modified":"2017-07-31T10:24:51","modified_gmt":"2017-07-31T14:24:51","slug":"charlie-gards-parents-are-forced-to-stop-fighting-for-their-dying-baby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2017\/07\/31\/charlie-gards-parents-are-forced-to-stop-fighting-for-their-dying-baby\/","title":{"rendered":"Charlie Gard’s Parents Are Forced to Stop Fighting for their Dying Baby"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Charlie Gard’s Parents Are Forced to Stop Fighting for their Dying Baby<\/h2>\n

I cannot imagine the pain Charlie Gard\u2019s parents are feeling now, as they savor their last moments with their precious child. Charlie is 11 months old and he\u2019s dying.<\/p>\n

Chris and Connie have been fighting for months to get treatment for Charlie, ever since he was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition, mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome. But they have been forced to give up that fight.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t imagine their pain, but I can imagine their fury because I share it.<\/p>\n

From the Hospital to the Courts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charlie is not mine. I\u2019ve never met him or anyone who knows him. Yet I am furious with the British government for refusing to allow his parents to take their dying son to the United States for treatment: a therapy trial, his last and only hope.<\/p>\n

No further recourse was available in the UK, but an American doctor was ready to try to help him at Columbia University Medical Center. Charlie\u2019s parents raised \u00a31.4 million through crowdfunding; they had the money to take him to the US by air ambulance.<\/p>\n

But doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital<\/a> in London didn\u2019t like that idea. They said it wouldn\u2019t help, that the American therapy was experimental. They said the baby\u2019s life support should just stop.<\/p>\n

On April 11th, a British High Court judge ruled with the doctors, empowering them to turn off Charlie\u2019s life-support machines. His mother screamed \u201cno\u201d when she heard the verdict.<\/p>\n

There was a petition with more than 110,000 names on it. People wrote letters to the Prime Minister, calling on her to release Charlie from Great Ormond Street\u2019s care. The pope said he was praying for Charlie\u2019s parents, \u201choping that their desire to accompany and care for their own child to the end is not ignored.”<\/p>\n

Even US President Trump tweeted<\/a> that “If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so.”<\/p>\n

Charlie\u2019s parents challenged the decision in the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court, and the European Court of Human Rights.<\/p>\n

All to no avail. The Courts would not allow them to try to save their baby\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Who Can Call This Justice?<\/strong><\/p>\n

And now Charlie is out of time. According to the BBC<\/a>, “US neurologist Dr. Michio Hirano had said he was no longer willing to offer the baby experimental therapy after he saw the results of a new MRI scan last week.”<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible that Charlie\u2019s doctors were right, that experimental treatment wouldn\u2019t have helped (although his parents don\u2019t think so, nor do American and Italian doctors<\/a>). But what harm could it have done when he\u2019s dying anyway? And if his parents had the means to give him one last chance, why shouldn\u2019t they exercise their right to do so? They belong to Charlie just as he belongs to them, and no one but Chris and Connie should get the final say on his medical care.<\/p>\n

I never really knew what people meant by the phrase \u201cdeath panels\u201d before. It was just a term bandied about by talking heads and political personalities. It\u2019s chilling how well it applies in this instance: a group of bureaucrats that sits around deciding who is worthy of medical care.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know how the power slipped away from the individual, whether taken by force or given away with applause, but this is outrageous. And it\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n

Read with a Box of Tissues<\/strong><\/p>\n

I will leave you with the words of Connie Yate\u2019s, Charlie\u2019s mom:<\/p>\n

Due to the deterioration in his muscles, there is now no way back for Charlie. Time that has been wasted. It is time that has sadly gone against him.<\/p>\n

We want people to realise that we have been speaking to parents whose children were just like Charlie before starting treatment and now some of them are walking around like normal children. We wanted Charlie to have that chance too.<\/p>\n

All we wanted to do was take Charlie from one world renowned hospital to another world renowned hospital in the attempt to save his life and to be treated by the world leader in mitochondrial disease. We feel that we should have been trusted as parents to do so but we will always know in our hearts that we did the very best for Charlie and I hope that he is proud of us for fighting his corner.<\/p>\n

Charlie had a real chance of getting better. It’s now unfortunately too late for him but it’s not too late for others with this horrible disease and other diseases. We will continue to help and support families of ill children and try and make Charlie live on in the lives of others. We owe it to him to not let his life be in vain.<\/p>\n

Despite the way that our beautiful son has been spoken about sometimes, as if he not worthy of a chance at life, our son is an absolute WARRIOR and we could not be prouder of him and we will miss him terribly. One little boy has brought the world together and whatever people’s opinions are, no one can deny the impact our beautiful son has had on the world and his legacy will never ever die.<\/p>\n

We are now going to spend our last precious moments with our son Charlie, who unfortunately won’t make his 1st birthday in just under 2 weeks’ time, and we would ask that our privacy is respected at this very difficult time.<\/p>\n

Mummy and Daddy love you so much Charlie, we always have and we always will and we are so sorry that we couldn’t save you.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n


\nMarianne March
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Marianne is a recent graduate of Georgia State University, where she majored in Public Policy, with a minor in Economics. Follow her on twitter\u00a0@mari_tweets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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