Trump offers US help for terminally ill baby Charlie

SALLY WARDLE

European Court of Human Rights refused to intervene.

During a hearing at the High Court in April, Mr Justice Francis considered evidence from a specialist who would oversee any treatment Charlie had at a hospital in the US.

The specialist, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said therapy would provide a “small chance” of a meaningful improvement in Charlie’s brain function.

He told the court via a telephone link from America: “It may be a treatment, but not a cure.

“(Charlie) may be able to interact. To smile. To look at objects.’’

The US President has now said he would be delighted to help and members of the Trump administration have talked to the boy’s family, said White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She said: “Our goal is not to pressure but simply to be helpful if possible in this very difficult and heartbreaking situation.,”

Helen Aguirre Ferre, the director of media affairs at the White House, added: “Upon learning of baby Charlie Gard’s situation, President Trump has offered to help the family in this heartbreaking situation.

“Although the President has not spoken to the family – he does not want to pressure them in any way – members of the administration have spoken to the family in calls facilitated by the British Government. The President is just trying to be helpful if at all possible. Due to legal issues, we cannot confirm the name of doctor or hospital where the baby could be treated in the United States.”

It is understood an American hospital has offered to treat Charlie free of charge, although his family has received the large sum in donations to take him across the Atlantic for therapy.

The couple are now spending the last days of their son’s life with him, after being given more time before his life support is turned off.

Charlie, who suffers from a rare inherited genetic condition that causes progressive muscle weakness and brain damage, is still