#CharlieGard: Social media turns family tragedy into global war of words
london — The social media frenzy surrounding British baby Charlie Gard has turned one family’s tragedy into a global debate, drawing donations and death threats, and views from the Vatican to the White House.
The hashtag #CharlieGard has been used almost half a million times on Twitter since the beginning of last month. Google searches for the boy’s name in Britain have surpassed those for Prime Minister Theresa May and, worldwide, for the US healthcare bill that has loomed large in Washington politics.
The 11-month-old baby, who suffers from a rare genetic condition causing progressive brain damage and muscle weakness, has been the subject of a legal dispute between his parents and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London.
The case centred on the heartrending ethical dilemma of who should decide a child’s fate — parents or doctors. Charlie’s mother and father had tried to take the boy to the United States for experimental treatment but the hospital argued it would simply prolong his suffering — a view backed by the courts.
This week, after accepting there was no hope left, the parents Connie Yates and Chris Gard have sought to agree on arrangements for their son’s final days and death. A deadline passed on Thursday for them to agree arrangements to spend more time in a hospice with Charlie before his death, though it was unclear whether any compromise had been reached.
As the harrowing legal fight unfolded, the online interventions of Pope Francis and US President Donald Trump were instrumental in whipping up public interest, Google analytics show, transforming the case from a domestic debate into a worldwide phenomenon.
The Catholic pontiff’s tweet on June 30 — “To defend human life, above all when it is wounded by illness, is a duty of love that God entrusts to all” — saw global searches for Charlie Gard spike by 285 per cent in a day. —