Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Charlie’s nurses to work days off so he can die in a hospice
Parents’ deadline to find specialist
NURSES have volunteered to care for Charlie Gard outside hospital – a move that helps give his parents a chance of spending days with him in a hospice before he dies.
But a judge has given Connie Yates and Chris Gard until noon today to find a paediatric intensive care consultant.
Otherwise the mum and dad would have only a matter of hours with the 11-month-old once he is transferred from Great Ormond Street Hospital.
The High Court dashed the hopes of Charlie’s parents who wanted him to die at home. Connie and Chris have now accepted their terminally ill boy will be moved to a hospice but want a week with him there. The judge Mr Justice Francis said he hoped all parties could come to an agreement on care by noon or Charlie would be moved anyway and his life support treatment would be ended soon after. After private discussions at the court in Central London, tearful Connie shouted: “What if it was your child?” Before storming out, the mum – wearing a pendant etched with Charlie’s name – added: “I can’t be in the same room as you.
“I hope you’re happy with yourselves. How can you do that?” The family’s lawyer Grant Armstrong said: “Several nurses at Great Ormond Street have volunteered to assist Charlie. May I pay tribute to those nurses.”
Charlie’s parents, of Bedfont, South West London, thought they had done enough to arrange care for him outside hospital after a GP offered to help.
But the doctor is not an intensive care specialist, which the hospital said was “essential” for Charlie’s care.
A friend said Connie and Chris would be “devastated they have not been granted” their wish for their boy to die at home. It comes after they ended their legal bid to have him flown to the US for experimental treatment they hoped would improve his condition.