Charlie Gard:No sign of deal between parents and hospital

Charlie Gard:No sign of deal between parents and hospital



The deadline for Charlie Gard's parents to make a deal with Great Ormond Street Hospital over when his life support should be removed has now passed.

Connie Yates and Chris Gard and their son's doctors now agree he should die in a hospice but cannot find common ground on the length of time he will have there.

His parents would like up to a week to say goodbye to their little boy but his medics say he would suffer least if death comes within a few hours.

Yesterday Mr Justice Francis, the High Court judge asked to decide his fate, said a deal must be agreed by midday today or GOSH's advice would be followed.

Yesterday Charlie's nurses made an extraordinary gesture yesterday to accompany him to his death.

The staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital stepped forward as their bosses said the baby must be sent to a hospice by tomorrow.

At yet another contentious High Court hearing yesterday, his mother Connie Yates fled, screaming ‘What if this was your child?’ after being denied her final wish to take her son home to die.

The London hospital insists the family must find six nurses and three specialist doctors to care for him if they want to manage his final days.



Great Ormond Street said it had ‘moved heaven and earth’ to find a hospice willing to take Charlie but even so his death must take place on the day he arrives, for insurance reasons.

It said the family wanted to spend up to a week saying their goodbyes.



The nurses offered to work 12-hour shifts on their days off – facilitating the family’s wish.

Grant Armstrong, for the family, told the court: ‘Several nurses from Great Ormond Street have volunteered to assist. May I pay tribute to these nurses.’

Last night Miss Yates, 31, issued a global appeal online for help. At court she wore a silver, heart-shaped pendant inscribed simply with Charlie.

The boy’s father Chris Gard, 33, was at his bedside.

Charlie, who has a rare form of mitochondrial disease, is expected to die before his first birthday on August 4.

His parents have made the heartbreaking decision to abandon their fight with the hospital over whether life-support should be removed instead of him being allowed experimental treatment in America.

They wanted to take him home to their flat in south-west London. But Fiona Paterson, for the hospital, told the court: ‘Sadly, what is suggested is not viable. Further delay merely compounds the misery in this tragic case.’

Mr Justice Francis ordered that, unless there was agreement by midday today, Charlie would be moved to a hospice at some point soon and have his ventilation tube taken out thereafter.

The judge said he wanted to accommodate the parents’ final wishes but his ‘guiding principle’ was Charlie’s best interests. ‘The time has come when a decision has to be made,’ he said.



The judge issued reporting restrictions to prevent the public knowing when Charlie would die.

Mr Armstrong said that Miss Yates was determined to find doctors to help, saying: ‘She is not a quitter under any circumstances at all.’

Victoria Butler-Cole, for Charlie’s court-appointed guardian, told the court: ‘Nobody can stop Charlie’s parents from looking for other options, but it seems unlikely that options can be found. Much as everyone would have been happy to approve such a plan, it doesn’t exist.

‘Anything that can encourage them to spend the last few days with Charlie rather than with lawyers or experts has to be in everyone’s best interests.’