Parents must let incurable Alfie go
WE all feel for the parents of Alfie Evans, but a judge has to rule based on facts not emotions. His ruling won’t kill Alfie – the baby’s illness will. There are a number of children living with rare conditions, some so rare their parents will never meet other parents whose child has the same condition.
Not having a diagnosis is tragic, but it is another reason to stop treatment. People with well understood medical conditions die every day, so if the doctors don’t know exactly what is causing Alfie’s problems, they can’t hope to cure him.
No one wants children to die. Horrible comments about the parents, the doctors or the judge just add to the hurt caused by Alfie’s sickness – a terrible legacy for a beautiful boy. Sarah Jane Robinson Wakefield, West Yorks
# Doctors can make mistakes. I know, as I’ve been on the receiving end. And, like Alfie’s parents, we fought them. Tom and Kate should not give up their fight to take Alfie abroad for treatment. Surely, if the doctors and the courts really did care about the child they would agree to this and let the parents give their baby the chance of another medical opinion. After all, life is a precious gift, as your campaign to change the organ donor system highlights. C Sinclair, Wrexham
# No one can fully understand what it’s like to have a child with a terminal
and life debilitating illness or the emotions felt by the parents unless they have lived through it themselves. This is no easy decision for medical professionals to make.
But as with Charlie Gard last year, all you can hope is that the parents can come to terms with the fact that their son should be allowed to peacefully and painlessly pass away.
I hope Tom and Kate try to put his best interests ahead of their own emotional needs, difficult as it must be. Diane Silva, Lytham, Lancs
# After watching the videos of brain-damaged baby Alfie Evans, you can only come to one conclusion – he may be braindamaged and comatose, but he isn’t brain dead. His arms and legs responded to touch, even though his eyes stayed shut.
Tom and Kate should not be forced to stand by and watch them turn off his life support. A Smith March, Cambs
# In the case of little Alfie Evans, you have to ask whether the parents are fighting to keep him alive for themselves or for the child?
However hard and devastating it may be for you to lose your baby to a devastating illness, you have to do whatever is needed for the good of the child, not what is best or good for you. Lorraine Kemp, Bedford
# It is sad that any parent has to face this – no one wants to bury their child. But you have to look at Alfie’s quality of life. Whatever this horrible disease is, it has degraded his brain tissue – and even if they managed to diagnose it, I don’t think there would be a way to reverse that damage. Tracey Baker via Facebook
# The best doctors in the land have said there is no hope of recovery for Alfie, so the parents must let the poor little mite die with dignity. Ron Bromfield Loughton, Essex