Find this little boy
Brain tumour victim, 5, snatched from hospital by parents is taken to France – as battery on feeding system runs down
PARENTS who smuggled their dying son out of hospital have taken him abroad in a desperate bid to find a cure, friends said yesterday. Brett and Naghmeh King refused to accept five-year-old Ashya was terminally ill and have ‘run away in desperation’, according to a family friend.
The couple and their seven children, aged from two to 23, boarded a ferry to Cherbourg, France, on Thursday, triggering a police alert and a race against time to find them.
After major surgery for an aggressive brain tumour, Ashya was being kept alive by a feeding tube, but it is thought the system’s battery was due to run out last night. Police warned it was vital Ashya was taken to hospital, saying: ‘Time is running out for this little boy.’
CCTV showed Mr King, 51, wheeling him out of Southampton General Hospital on Thursday. Friends said the Kings ‘idolised’ their children and had refused to accept that Ashya’s life could not be saved. The hospital has not commented on his condition.
The couple are Jehovah’s Witnesses and the decision to take their son without doctors’ approval raised questions over whether they were trying to avoid a blood transfusion, which
‘Will deteriorate
very quickly’
their faith rejects. But a spokesman for the Office of Public Information for Jehovah’s Witnesses said there was ‘absolutely no indication’ their move was motivated by religion.
Friends said the couple went abroad hoping to find help. Family friend Katie Fletcher posted a message on Hampshire Police’s Facebook page, saying Mrs King, 45, had ‘run away in desperation’.
‘This is my mother’s friend, she has run away in desperation because they cannot accept that there is nothing that can be done … they are a very sweet loving family and I can only believe they are doing this because they want to help their son.’
Another friend said doctors had removed the tumour – said to be the size of a tangerine – but had told the heartbroken family the cancer would return and would probably be inoperable.
Doctors said Ashya only had four months left to live because of the aggressive nature of his cancer, the friend added.
The boy’s grandmother Patricia King said her family was devastated by the diagnosis but had hoped he was improving after surgery. He had regained some movement in his limbs, had seemed more aware of family around him and had even managed to smile, she said. Mrs King, who lives near the family in Southsea, Portsmouth, said she had not been told if his condition was terminal, adding: ‘We were all getting more hopeful lately.’
She said Ashya was originally diagnosed with arthritis but had been in hospital for the past month after the brain tumour was found. She praised Ashya’s parents as ‘wonderful and caring’ and said her daughter-in-law had kept a bedside vigil.
But the grandmother urged his parents: ‘Bring him back.’
A family friend said the couple had discussed taking their youngest son abroad in the hope of finding a cure, adding: ‘It seemed like desperate talk from a desperate family. Who wouldn’t want to try everything? But I never thought they’d go through with it.’
Police warned the family’s quest could have terrible consequences. Assistant chief constable Chris Shead said: ‘The feeding system is battery- operated. We have been told by medical experts that the battery life on the machine is now likely to have expired.
‘We don’t know whether the King family have any spares, the knowledge, or any way of recharging the battery. If they don’t … Ashya’s condition will deteriorate very quickly.’
The family are believed to be in a grey Hyundai people carrier with number plate KP60 HWK. There have been no confirmed sightings since they left Cherbourg at 7pm on Thursday. Interpol has issued a missing persons alert.
University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust said Ashya was allowed to leave with his parents but that staff alerted police at 8.35pm, when the length of absence ‘became a cause of concern’. Anyone who sees the family should call 0044 1962 841534 or European emergency number 112.