Baby Charlie Gard’s Lasting Lesson: Human Life Matters

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Congress even approved a measure to allow the child and his parents permanent residency in the U.S., so that he could receive treatment from a New York-based doctor, Michio Hirano, who has been working on an experimental therapy appropriate for the child’s condition.

Hirano traveled to England last week to examine the infant.

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“We are truly devastated to say that following the most recent MRI scan of Charlie’s muscles, as requested in the recent MDT meeting by Dr. Hirano, as Charlie’s devoted and loving parents we have decided that it’s no longer in Charlie’s best interests to pursue treatment and we will let our son go and be with the angels,” said Yates this week.

“Had Charlie been given the treatment sooner he would have had the potential to be a normal, healthy little boy,” the mother added.

After the long, extensive legal battle, the court system denied the parents the chance to take their baby elsewhere for treatment.

Related: Baby Charlie Gard Can’t Travel to U.S., Judge Rules

“We have only been asking for a three-month trial of treatment to see if there was any improvement,” Yates said. “We have been asking for this short trial for the past eight months. Charlie did have a real chance of getting better if only therapy was started sooner. It was never false hope, as confirmed by many experts.”

The children’s hospital in London exhausted its medical treatment options for the child.

“All we wanted to do was take Charlie from one world-renowned hospital to another world-renowned hospital in the attempt to save his life and to be treated by the world leader in mitochondrial disease,” Yates said.

It is a sad day for thousands around the world who had been following Charlie Gard’s case.

The baby’s life “has made a lasting impact on the world and drawn together people from all walks of life and political persuasions, uniting them around the dignity and value of every human being,” Americans United for Life’s Foster said today. “Their fight will continue as Charlie’s legacy, so that we can build a culture that respects life and protects the lives of the most vulnerable.” [lz_pagination]