After the tragic announcement that Charlie Gard, the terminally ill baby at the center of a heartbreaking, international news story, has died, a spokesperson for his parents has revealed that the child will be buried with his stuffed, toy monkeys.
Funeral plans have not yet been made for Charlie, the 11-month-old who died on Friday after being taken off life support — and there is no indication as to whether his parents, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, will open his funeral up to the public. That said, one detail has been revealed.
“They haven’t finalized any plans yet,” family spokeswoman Alison Smith-Squire told The Sun. “But they have decided Charlie will be buried with his beloved toy monkeys.”
Charlie’s death, which came after he suffered mitochondrial depletion syndrome, was a tragic conclusion to a story that has riveted the world and inspired debate over parental rights, health care and a plethora of other related issues. The baby would have celebrated his first birthday on August 4.
“We should be planning Charlie’s first birthday but instead we’re planning his funeral,” Yates said of the tragic circumstances.
Yates and Gard spent the past few months battling back and forth with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in the U.K., where Charlie was cared for. 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 last 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.
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
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.