- Title: Parents of terminally ill UK baby Charlie Gard 'so sorry' he cannot be saved
- Date: 24th July 2017
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JULY 24, 2017) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** CHRIS GARD AND CONNIE YATES, PARENTS OF TERMINALLY ILL BABY CHARLIE GARD, WALKING OUTSIDE COURT (SOUNDBITE) (English) FATHER OF TERMINALLY ILL BABY CHARLIE GARD, CHRIS GARD, SAYING: "This is one of the hardest thing that we will ever have to say. We are about to do the hardest thing that we will ever have to do, which is to let our beautiful little Charlie go. Put simply, this is about a sweet, gorgeous, innocent little boy who was born with a form of a rare disease, who had a real, genuine chance of life and a family who loved him so very dearly and that's why we fought so hard for him. We are truly devastated to say that following the most recent MRI scan of Charlie's muscles, as requested in a recent MDT meeting by Dr. Hirano, as Charlie's devoted and loving parents, we've decided it's no longer in Charlie's best interest to pursue treatment and we will let our son go and be with the angels." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) FATHER OF TERMINALLY ILL BABY CHARLIE GARD, CHRIS GARD, SAYING: "The American and Italian team was still willing to treat Charlie after seeing by his recent brain MRI and EEG (electroencephalogram) performed last week but there is one simple reason why treatment cannot now go ahead, and that is time. A whole lot of time has been wasted. We are now in July and our poor boy has been left to just lie in hospital for months without any treatment whilst lengthy court battles have been fought. Tragically, having had Charlie's medical notes reviewed by independent experts, we now know had Charlie's been given the treatment sooner he would have had the potential to be a normal, healthy, little boy." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) FATHER OF TERMINALLY ILL BABY CHARLIE GARD, CHRIS GARD, SAYING: "Our son is an absolute warrior and we could not be prouder of him and we will miss him terribly. His body, heart and soul may soon be gone but his spirit will live on for eternity and he will make a difference to people's lives for years to come, we will make sure of that. We are now going to spend our last precious moments with our son Charlie, who unfortunately won't make his first birthday in just under two weeks time, and we will ask our privacy is respected at this very difficult time. To Charlie, we say mummy and daddy, we love me so much, we always have and we always will and we are so sorry that we couldn't saved you. Sweet dreams baby, sleep tight our beautiful little boy. We love you." CHRIS GARD AND CONNIE YATES LEAVING (AUDIO OF CROWD CHANTING (English) "JUSTICE FOR CHARLIE")
- Embargoed: 7th August 2017 16:10
- Keywords: Parents of Charlie Gard agree to let him die Gard baby treatment terminally ill baby treatment Charlie Gard legal decision
- Location: LONDON< ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: LONDON< ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Human Interest / Brights / Odd News,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0016R2V77R
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: AUDIO AS INCOMING
The parents of Charlie Gard dropped their legal battle to give the terminally ill British baby further treatment on Monday (July 24) and will now hold discussions with his London hospital about how he should be allowed to die.
Charlie's father, Chris Gard, said his 11-month-old son could have lived a normal life if he had been given treatment earlier.
Charlie has a rare genetic condition causing progressive muscle weakness and brain damage. His parents had sought to send him to the United States to undergo experimental therapy.
Britain's courts, backed by the European Court of Human Rights, refused permission, saying it would prolong his suffering without any realistic prospect of helping the child. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None