Couple ‘denied’ wish to let baby Charlie die at home

THE parents of a brain-damaged baby with a rare genetic condition say they have been denied their final wish to be able to take their son home to die.

Chris Gard and Connie Yates, both from London, wanted ten-month-old Charlie, who suffers from a rare genetic condition, to be allowed to die at home.

They brought their case to have Charlie treated in the US to a succession of English courts and the European Court of Human Rights. British courts had ruled in favour of doctors treating the little boy who said the treatment was experimental and would not help. On Tuesday, the European court refused to intervene.

The couple said yesterday that London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, where their son was being treated, has denied them their request to let Charlie die at their family home. The baby’s life-support will be switched off today. The parents claim they are being rushed, despite having been promised they would have all the time they needed with their son.

Mr Gard said yesterday: ‘Our parental rights have been stripped away. We can’t even take our own son home to die, we have been denied that, do you not think we have been put through enough?

‘Our final wish if it all went against us, can we take our little boy home. We know what day our son is going to die and we don’t even get a say in what happens to him.’

A spokeswoman for Great Ormond Street Hospital said: ‘This is a very distressing situation for Charlie’s parents and all the staff involved and our focus remains with them.’