Charlie Gard Parents Lose Appeal

[Prudie]

I'd be interested to hear what your opinions are on the case of this poor baby that the parents wants to send to US for treatment and they have lost another appeal today. He cannot see, hear, move, cry or swallow and has been in ICU since last October. My view is it would be kinder to let him slip away then but he's not my baby.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40206045

[rockyracoon]

That's the crux of it though, isn't it. He's not our baby. Personally, I think the kindest thing would be for him to slip away, but if he was mine I think I'd hang on to any tiny bit of hope, as misguided as it might be. My heart breaks for his poor parents

[ummmm]

Very sad story.

[ladybirder]

I agree Prudie but I might not if I was his parent. He has no quality of life as far as I can see. Poor little boy. Poor parents.

[Prudie]

Yes I meant to type "but then he's not my baby" which is a different slant. Tragic all round.

[atalanta]

If he were mine, I'd feel that I must fight for every tiny fragment of a chance for his survival, or else, after he died, I might never stop reproaching myself that I failed him.

[andy-hughes]

I can only agree with the previous posters -

if this tragic little boy was mine, I would fight to my last breath to keep him alive, as an uninvolved spectator, my instinct is to let the poor little soul slip away.

Such a tragic situation for everyone involved.

[marval]

I think it would be kinder to let him go. Of course he isn't my child, I might think differently if he was.

[Tilly2]

If it was my dog, I would say, 'I can't bear to see him like this, please put him out of his misery.' If it was my child, I would say, 'Please do everything you can to keep him alive.' Strange isn't it?
Those poor parents must be going through sheer hell. My heart bleeds for them.

[anneasquith]

Horrendous situation for everyone involved, especially the baby and his parents, we think as parents we " speak" for our children until they are old enough to do so for themselves, not in this case. How tragic the situation has got to this, so sad .

[trt]

We never know what is around the corner, in the breakthrough to new medical cures.

20+ years ago, if you got cancer, you died, now, some people survive!

[bednobs]

as someone who has had to make the awful decision to turn my baby's life support off i cant grasp how things have got this far

[ladybirder]

Can you explain what you mean bednobs please.

[bednobs]

in a very stark calculation - the NHS has already paid near to half a million pounds for his care and who knows what to take it to court. Even if the treatment could make him survive, i think it's probably unlikely his problems are going to be reversed, and he will grow up to be a healthy man

[bednobs]

i suppose i mean because the outlook for my son was poor, it was actually a very clear decision for us to make (i nearly said easy but of course it was anything but). Because we made that decision, it's hard for mte to see why his parents can't do the same i suppose

[anneasquith]

Bednobs, I recall you're wee ones, I wonder why this issue has got to this stage , distressing for everyone .

[Dahlia_Lama]

I know I'd fight tooth and nail , until the last gasp . Let's face it , what do they have to lose by grasping that last straw .
The proceedings appeared to me to have been done and dusted before the appeal commenced . Let's face it , they (The Judiciary) rarely turn on themselves . Appalling decision... they ( the parents ) are potentially looking at their sons ventilator being turned off to oorow at midnight .
Yet some terminally ill people in this country have to choose to go to Dignitas to end their suffering . It doesn't make sense .

[bednobs]

iknow that circumstances and people are different

[Mamyalynne]

I cannot (thankfully) put myself in this dreadful position, so I feel unable to say what I would do.

Heartbreaking.

[ladybirder]

// He cannot see, hear, move, cry or swallow and has been in ICU since last October. \\ That is horrendous. But apparently he can feel pain. Isn't it verging on cruelty to keep him alive?