So is Charlie’s brain already too badly damaged to help?

IF Charlie’s brain is already damaged, this could not be reversed, even if the syndrome itself were made better.

Even the US doctor offering the treatment agrees the proposed therapy could not undo this. Great Ormond Street says Charlie has ‘irreversible brain damage’.

But his parents are adamant this is not the case. They say they know him best and he responds to them.

Supporters of the family have been using social media to share two of Charlie’s hospital brain scans, which indicate it is ‘normal’. But while the scans are genuine, they are dated October 19, 2016, and January 6 this year.

The London medics say at that point they were willing to try the American therapy themselves, but then Charlie began suffer- ing repeated brain seizures. These went on from January 9 or 10 to January 27, during which time the doctors believe structural damage was caused to his brain.

One of them described in court how Charlie was not brain dead, but ‘persistently encephalopathic’ – in other words, tests showed no usual signs of normal brain functions such as responsiveness, interaction or crying.

But Charlie’s parents insist he does move in meaningful ways, and reject the diagnosis of brain damage.

On this basis, they say the American therapy is worth a try.

One of Charlie’s doctors told the High Court: ‘He’s blind, he’s deaf, he can’t breathe. This situation is not a tolerable one to leave a child in.’