On Friday, baby Charlie Gard died after his life support was withdrawn. Heartbroken parents Chris Gard and Connie Yates, who’ve been put through hell during this whole ordeal, wrote via social media: “Our beautiful little boy has gone, we are so proud of you Charlie.”
Just one week shy of his first birthday, Charlie died in hospice, as mandated by courts which rejected the parents’ wishes to take their son home to die with his family.
“We promised Charlie every day we would take him home. It seems really upsetting, after everything we’ve been through, to deny us this,” said Yates.
Gard suffered from encephalomyopathic mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, a rare disease of which there are only 16 current cases. Though Gard and Yates raised a stunning $1.6 million on their own to pursue experimental but potentially life-saving treatment here in the United States, Orwellian court rulings decided it was in the baby’s best interest remain at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London and die.
Simply put, the parents were forced by the government to forgo possible life-saving treatment; they were forced to stop fighting for their baby’s life and watch him die.
The heart-wrenching story triggered strong reactions from the United States and abroad; from Pope Francis to President Donald Trump to hundreds of thousands of petition-signing baby Charlie supporters, there was a palpable outrage over the boy’s treatment and the government’s clear over-stepping.
On Monday, after a long, drawn-out legal battle, the parents, via their lawyer, announced they would no longer pursue an avenue to get Charlie treatment; the bureaucratic red tape burned out the clock and their baby suffered irreversible brain damage.
May baby Charlie rest in peace.