Charlie won’t die at home

Critically ill baby Charlie Gard on Thursday will be transferred to a hospice to die unless his parents and a hospital agree on an endof-life plan that could keep him alive for a bit longer, a British judge has ruled.

High Court Judge Nicholas Francis gave 11month-old Charlie’s parents and Great Ormond Street Hospital until noon Thursday to develop a care plan for the infant’s final hours or days.

The baby (inset) suffers from a rare genetic disease, mitochondrial depletion syndrome, which has caused brain damage. Recent tests found Charlie has irreversible muscular damage.

“It is in Charlie’s best in- terests to be moved to a hospice and for him at that point to be moved to a palliative-care regime only,” the judge said as a legal battle that has drawn international attention nears a wrenching conclusion.

Parents Connie Yates and Chris Gard spent months trying to persuade Great Ormond Street to let Charlie go to the United States for experimental treatment.

They gave up Monday, acknowledging the window of opportunity to help him had closed.

On Tuesday, they said they hoped to bring their son, whose first birthday is next week, home to die.

But Judge Francis said the only options for their son “are the hospital or the hospice.”