Parents of terminally ill baby Charlie Gard lose Supreme Court case

Doctors should continue Charlie’s life support treatment for 24 hours to give European Court of Human Rights chance to consider the case, Supreme Court rules

(Facebook)

The parents of a terminally ill baby who want to take their son to the US for treatment have lost their case in the Supreme Court.

Chris Gard and Connie Yates, from Bedfont in west London, want their 10-month-old son, who has mitochondrial depletion syndrome, a rare genetic condition, and brain damage, to undergo a therapy trial in the States.

But a panel of three Supreme Court justices has dismissed the couple’s latest challenge for their son to receive the experimental treatment after a hearing in London on Thursday.

They said doctors should continue life-support treatment for Charlie for 24 hours to give the European Court of Human Rights the chance to consider the case.

Ms Yates broke down in tears and screamed as justices announced their decision, shouting: “How could they do this to us?” as she was led from the court by lawyers.

The parents, who are in their 30s, have appealed for money to cover doctors’ bills in the US on a GoFundMe page, which has topped £1.3m.

The High Court warned in April against a trip to the US and in favour of Great Ormond Street doctors, concluding that life support treatment should end and that Charlie should be allowed to “die with dignity”.

Specialists at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, where Charlie is being cared for, warned at the time that therapy proposed by a doctor in the US is experimental and will not help, and that his life-support treatment should stop.

The “devastated” couple chose to appeal the judgement, but appeal judges ruled in May that doctors should be allowed to stop the baby’s life-support treatment.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, Mr Gard and Ms Yates are now hoping to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights.