Charlie’s been taken prisoner by the NHS and the state
AILING baby Charlie Gard has beenOBORE“takenexeriureeprisonertumsandipby the NHSetuerat.and theOnullumState”intheullafamily’sfeufeu spokesmanfaccumsanditsaidwisselastnight.tatverosto od Alasdairtem dolor Seton-Marsdensum a.. said that if theyNawerefaccumsrichandreet,instead vulluptatofbeingetjustalis“cilitordinaryatet,people”quisliriliquat.CharlieIngwouldeniambefreeiner tosisi.receiveLaatetreatmentfacipsuscilin etthedolumUS. ing exer sit,“Babysum Charlieetaut wouldn’t have become what is essentially – and these are my words – a prisoner of the state,” he said.
“The child is effectively being taken prisoner by the NHS and by the state.”
Specialists at Great Ormond Street hospital in London do not believe that Charlie has any chance of surviving his critical illness and believe his lifesupport should be turned off. His rare genetic disease has left him brain-damaged and he cannot breathe unaided.
Charlie’s parents Chris Gard and Connie Yates, of West London, are now seeking a High Court ruling allowing 11- month- old Charlie to travel to New York for trial treatment.
It would be performed by Dr Michi Hirano, a neurology professor at Columbia University Medical Center, who gave evidence to the London court via video on Thursday.
Dr Hirano said there was now a better chance than when he previously gave evidence three months earlier.
He is due to travel to London tomorrow to examine Charlie.
But hope for Charlie will not make another mum, Chloe Harris, change her decision to sign a “do not resuscitate” notice for daughter Bailey-Rose, five, who also has a mitochondrial disease.
She is brain-damaged, can’t walk or talk and suffers violent seizures. Experts say she will never get better.
Mum-of-three Chloe, 22, of Greater Manchester, says Charlie’s high-profile case means some friends wrongly think Bailey-Rose can be cured. She said: “I’m doing what’s best for my girl. The public have no idea how complex mitochondrial disease is. People seem to think there is a miracle cure.
“I want my daughter to be pain- free and happy as she can be.
“She wouldn’t want to pass away horribly, in pain, with foreign objects in her body. I respect Charlie’s parents’ position but my decision makes perfect sense for our daughter.”