Charlie Gard’s parents have announced they will withdraw their application to take their son to from London to the U.S. for experimental treatment. Their decision comes in response to new medical evidence which showed it was “too late” for Charlie to benefit from nucleoside therapy.
Connie Yates, Charlie’s mother, made a passionate statement to the High Court, which had been handling their case.
This announcement marks the end of a five-month legal battle between Charlie’s parents and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), where the infant was being treated. Charlie suffers from a rare mitochondrial disease which renders him unable to breathe on his own. Five months ago, GOSH asked to take Charlie off life support, and when his parents resisted the move, the hospital took them to court, launching a lengthy and protracted court battle. Last week, Michio Hirano, an American neurologist, traveled to the U.K. to examine Charlie.
While Hirano had testified before examing Charlie that the possibility of improvement for Charlie was “at least 10%,” he ultimately concluded that the treatment could not help. The lawyer for the hospital presented the findings, which she called a “sad reading” to the court before sharing them with Gard and Yates.
In the end, it was a question of time. Grant Armstrong, who was representing Charlie’s parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, in court, said, “For Charlie, it’s too late, time has run out, irreversible muscular damage has been done and the treatment can no longer be a success.”
The protracted court battle might be the reason. Gard said, “A whole lot of time has been wasted. … Had Charlie been given the treatment sooner, he would have had the potential to be a normal, healthy little boy.” He went on, “We all have to live with the ‘what ifs’ that will haunt us for the rest of our lives.”
Yates also wrote that experts confirmed that Charlie’s brain scans from January showed no evidence of irreversible brain damage.
Gard and Yates have raised over 1.3 million pounds to fund Charlie’s treatment. Yates has suggested using the money to fund a charity, and their lawyer confirmed the couple plans to start a foundation.
Gard and Yates announced their decision before the judge could deliver a final ruling. Armstrong said the Gards’ decision was one “only parents can make.”
“This has also never been about ‘parents know best,’” wrote Yates. “All we wanted to do was take Charlie from one world-renowned hospital to another world-renowned hospital in the attempt to save his life. … We feel that we should have been trusted as parents to do so.”
