LIVERPOOL, United Kingdom, March 6, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Today, three British judges rejected an appeal of a High Court decision allowing a hospital to remove toddler Alfie Evans’ life support against his parents’ wishes.
Alfie, who is just a few months away from turning two, has a mysterious, undiagnosed disease. He is in a coma and has seizures, but responds when his parents interact with him. His father Thomas is 21 and his mother Kate is 20.
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital has been fighting Alfie’s parents in court, arguing their institution should be allowed to yank Alfie’s life support.
The three Court of Appeals judges unanimously agreed with the High Court, which determined in February that it would be “unkind, unfair, and inhumane” to allow the 21-month-old to keep living.
Lady Justice King, one of the judges, said she believes 70 percent of Alfie’s brain matter has been destroyed. She wrote that a professor had testified that Alfie’s breathing “would not be strong enough to sustain life, even if he managed to breathe independently of the ventilation apparatus.”
Thomas and Kate were at Alfie’s side when they learned that the court agreed Alder Hey should have the right to determine their son’s course of care or lack thereof.
On March 2, Alder Hey released a statement saying they “are receiving an unprecedented amount of queries, concerns, comments and questions to staff on social media, via phone, email and in person.”
“I will protect my family with MY LIFE!” Thomas posted in the Facebook group “Alfie’s Army” on March 1.
It’s unclear what Alder Hey’s next move will be, as Alfie’s case has generated international attention and protests in support of letting him live.
Alder Hey has previously come under public criticism over its organ harvesting practices. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, this scandal revealed that the hospital had “stockpiled” human organs. Alder Hey was investigated for removing and storing children's’ organs and bodies without their parents’ consent and “mistakenly” disposing of a dead three-year-old’s organs.
On January 26, 2001, Alder Hey admitted to “having given thymus glands removed from living children during heart operations to a pharmaceutical company in return for cash.”
Contact information:
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital
Eaton Road, Liverpool L12 2AP, United Kingdom
0151 228 4811
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Facebook page
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