Charlie Gard, the terminally ill baby at the center of a heartbreaking, international news story, has died.
It’s a tragic conclusion to a story that has riveted the world and inspired debate over parental rights, health care and the value of human life. The Daily Mail has more about the baby’s death:
Eleven-month-old Charlie Gard, whose short life captured the hearts of the world, has died after suffering from a rare genetic condition which has seen him in hospital for the majority of his short life.
Charlie’s parents, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, fought a lengthy and emotional legal battle to take their severely ill baby son to the US for treatment, which was denied by judges.
Charlie’s mother, Connie, said: ‘Our beautiful little boy has gone, we are so proud of you Charlie.’
Yates and Gard spent the past few months battling back and forth with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in the U.K., where Charlie, who suffered from mitochondrial depletion syndrome, was cared for.
Charlie Gard would have turned one year old next week. Rest in peace, sweet angel. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/MvwHM4ZqvQ
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) July 28, 2017
At first, the dispute centered on the parents’ quest to take Charlie out of the U.K. for treatment in America. But after it became apparent that this wasn’t possible due to the deterioration of his condition, the grieving parents on Monday gave up their quest to seek experimental remedies.
And, on Tuesday, they returned to court to ask that they be, instead, allowed to take their baby home to die — a final request that was also denied.
The hospital suggested hospice instead of home care, saying that life support — particularly forced ventilation — would have been difficult at the home shared by Yates and Gard. Reuters reported that the hospital presented a document in court on Tuesday that said the ventilation system wouldn’t fit through the front door of the house.
In the end, Charlie was brought to hospice care on Thursday and his life support was removed, the Telegraph reported. Yates and Gard had made it clear they had wanted to spend extra time saying goodbye to their son.
“We just want some peace with our son – no hospital, no lawyers, no courts, no media – just quality time with Charlie away from everything to say goodbye to him in the most loving way,” Yates recently said in a statement. “I’m shocked that after all we’ve been through, they won’t allow us this extra time.”
This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.