11-month-old Charlie Gard will die tomorrow, as doctors prepare to switch off his life support machine.
Baby Charlie suffers from a rare form of mitochondrial disease that presents itself in early infant-hood. The condition causes progressive muscle atrophy and brain damage.
There is no known cure, but his parents had hoped to try an experimental treatment in the US and had raised the funds through crowdfunding efforts. However, the European Court of Human Rights rejected Charlie’s parents last-ditch plea last Tuesday, claiming that the treatment offers no real prospect of improvement in the baby’s condition, and will only cause unnecessary harm.
The court’s ruling closed any further path of legal recourse and sealed Charlie’s fate.
The baby’s parents are now spending the last few hours with their son at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London before Charlie’s ventilator is turned off.