Charlie Gard’s parents have decided to end their battle and let their son die before his first birthday next week. They are, however accusing British doctors of denying him his ‘chance of getting better’ in the US.
Mother, Connie Yates, cried as she told the High Court today: ‘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. Sweet dreams baby. Sleep tight our beautiful little boy’.
Charlie’s first birthday is on Friday August 4 which means he will have his life support switched off within days after his family say their goodbyes.
It is unknown if he will be allowed to leave the hospital – but his parents have repeatedly said it is their ‘final wish’ to take their son home to ‘slip away’ and ‘be with the angels’.
Connie Yates said that Great Ormond Street Hospital should have ‘trusted’ them with the decision to take him to America for nucleoside treatment on his brain and said: ‘We only wanted to give him a chance of life’.
In a heartbreaking statement also read by his father Chris Gard outside court, she added: ‘Charlie had a real chance of getting better.
‘It’s now unfortunately too late for him. We are now going to spend our last precious moments with our son Charlie, who unfortunately won’t make his first birthday’.
The couple said he had the chance to be a ‘normal boy’ but was ‘left to just lie in hospital for months without any treatment whilst lengthy court battles have been fought’ and ‘left with his illness to deteriorate, sadly, to the point of no return’.
Great Ormond Street has praised the ‘bravery’ of the decision to end his life, however, they said treatment ‘could not have assisted Charlie’ and added it was ‘concerned’ that New York neurologist Dr. Michio Hirano had a ‘financial interest’ in some drugs he wanted Charlie to take.
The couple have fought his doctors through the courts in Britain and Europe since April because they were convinced their son had a chance of making a recovery,
Charlie’s campaign gained worldwide support including interventions from Pope Francis and Donald Trump who demanded he was treated in New York.