This is absolutely heart breaking, I've been following it closely, especially today. He is responding to his name and Alder Hey have stated he has an undiagnosed brain condition. Italy and Germany have been offering to take the lad and Alder Hey have been rejecting the request. Alder Hey hospital are acting somewhat draconian on this, imo. They're using the same controversial drug that the USA uses to execute its prisoners, then they'll be removing his tubes so he chokes to death. I don't like the sound of it at all. This was due to happen at 1pm today but Italy have granted him citizenship at the last moment. and are now trying to get one of their citizens back claiming the UK could be holding him hostage. I really hope he gets the chance to get out there.
He should just change his name to Alfie McCann and the gov't will make sure he gets everything he'll ever need.
Firstly, the parents cannot be expected to be reasonable or rational in this situation. I don't think any parent would be. Having got that out the way. Tom Evans is a kid (20) and is going through a horrible time which I wouldn't wish on anyone, as regards his son he simply doesn't know what he is talking about though sadly. The drug Alfie is on is Fentanyl for pain relief, the drugs used for lethal injection are babituates and sodium potassium, he's made that up for dramatic effect as he's desperate (which is understandable). Alfie has had massive brain deterioration and there is no way of reversing that, the doctors - and court - know exactly the medical situation it's just that there isn't a name for it so it keeps getting reported as though people don't know what the problem is ("he hasn't even got a diagnosis!!!"), it's like expecting someone to grow their legs back after they've had them amputated. The hospital in Italy has even agreed that the treatment on offer is palliative, the best they can do is keep him alive a bit longer, there is no cure here. There's a lot on the internet regarding "lethal injections" and "euthenasia" which are simply scaremongering. What is being suggested is that an ill child, who were it not for some severe medical intervention would have died some time ago, be able to be made comfortable and the invasive treatment is withdrawn whilst he is also given painkilling medication. Whatever anyone thinks of the above what is without doubt wrong is: People blockading the hospital - They were spitting at members of staff walking in and out. Trying to access the hospital (some got onto wards by pushing staff out of the way, this is a childrens hospital), today they were actually setting off the fire alarm of the hospital in protest. I mean who gives a **** about the other few hundred ill children in the hospital right? Making noise into the night - 8 to 10 days ago they had to move children from rooms on one side of the hospital as the noise outside until the late hours was keeping them awake. They had people speeding up the road in motorbikes, music blaring, chanting and even a ****ing bouncy castle... The people campaigning outside the hospital don't seem to notice/care about anything else that's happening. Blocking Roads - They blocked an ambulance today, refused to get out of the way when it was coming through. Last week they were blocking all traffic and there were various parents trying to either bring their children in or attend the hospital to see their child - can you imagine how you'd feel if your kid was going in for some treatment and you couldn't get there for it? The next step for Alfie is hard to say but I trust the doctors and the entire legal process a hell of a lot more than I trust Tom Evans media-feed and the baying mob who I've seen with my own eyes are mostly grade A ****s. I don't blame Tom Evans at all, he has every right to be selfishly doing everything he can for his child in the most unreasonable manner thinkable. I've got kids myself and cannot guarantee what I would do. I'm almost certain though that I'd take the route of allowing my child to pass in dignity surrounded by family, friends and all the people/ things they love and are loved by. Easy to say though.
His Italian Citizenship stuff hasn't made a difference by the looks of it, they've said it is purely designed to frustrate the British legal process when he is clearly a British citizen. I totally get why they keep fighting but also think they should let him die in peace now. The doctors know better than they do.
The Italian doctors have said they cant improve his condition, so what is the point in him going, the lad is pass away, at least give him the dignity of that.
His life support has been switched off for about 10 hours now and he's still alive. The doctors expected him to go very quickly, seems they've got that wrong... Totally agree about the baying mob, btw.
You are correct that it was expected he'd pass for more swiftly, doubt anyone will have put an exact time on it though. Not really sure how I feel about that to be honest, medicine isn't an exact science and you can never be sure how much a person is able to carry on; I'm sure that is what the parents want, I'm just not sure it's doing them any favours as it must be insanely stressful just sort of waiting. I sort of hope it's sooner rather than later, despite how harsh that may sound.
As already has been said the "supporters" behaviour has been dreadful. My only problem with the courts decision is that if it goes lie others it means withdrawing all support , apart from pain relief , often leading to the patient dying in raging fever as the body collapses .
Oh it's horrible. It's not a nice way to go at all, it's just that it's going to happen at some point in the very near future and this way they can have some control over when it is and try and minimise suffering as best as possible. He could still be going in a week and one of the issues that comes up is that he can't "eat" by himself so feeding is itself often classed as an invasive medical procedure which is withdrawn - it can become incredibly difficult to manage and I don't envy anyone involved.
Dr Dominic Pimenta has provided a detailed explanation about Alfie's situation and his condition. It makes things very clear and proves that the hospital are doing the right thing for the boy, nobody really knows if he is suffering in pain.
quite which is why if courts are going to make these judgements imo a better way of managing the final days has to be found than the present "all or nothing" situation. The whole thing is incredibly sad and not helped imo by these days so often being played out in a public arena.
The poor kid had very little of his brain matter left, as confirmed by the judge yesterday, as the disease he’s got is degenerative. Brain matter can’t reform and due to the parts of his brain that are no more, he won’t have the power of sight, touch, taste or hearing. There’s no cure for this and it’s not going to stop, his father simply isn’t listening as he doesn’t want to hear it. He should take this opportunity to spend every last moment with his son, and not be in some court room, fighting a futile legal battle imo.
It’s only in court as the father has refused to accept the medical conclusions, by all means seek a second opinion in conjunction with the hospital, but legal action does no one any favours in a situation like this. They all ultimately want the same thing - what’s best for the little lad, this kind of stuff should never get to court imho.
What really struck me was reading that people are mistaking his involuntary spasms with him being responsive. If the kid is in pain, there is nothing more cruel than dragging it out and prolonging the inevitable.
It's sad and I would like to think I would do better than to have loads of people rioting and being disrespectful outside the hospital. On the other hand I don't understand why the hospital and judge can just stop the family doing what they want with the child. It's not being paid for by the nhs and they aren't asking the government to front up the cash (if they were it'd be different). They just want to fly him over to Italy and he's going to die anyway so let them do what they want
Their duty of care is to the child and not his parents, they obviously feel that it’s not in his best interests and could potentially cause unnecessary suffering. The Italians are only offering palliative care anyway, which is what is happening here.
It also sets a ridiculous precedent that any terminally ill person who isn't immediately saved by our NHS can go abroad for treatment and potentially retrospectively sue the NHS for not providing sufficient care. It's rubbish really, I'm surprised Aberdude isn't at Alder Hey trying to pass some medical cannabis to the kid.
Anyone who sues the nhs should be shot. It doesn't matter what the Italians are offering. His parents think it will be better. The nhs can't stop me getting private medical care and is this not the same thing if I think the nhs care is pony
The difference being in that scenario you can make your own choices, if there’s some form of treatment that’s not offered in the Uk that is available elsewhere then that’s your choice, I wouldn’t agree that this case would set a precedent for sueing retrospectively in those circumstances. There’s enough discrepancies within the UK on that issue, as it’s a postcode lottery, as some treatments are available under the NHS in some areas but are not on the list in others. In this case the poor lad is a child who has no power of choice, the NHS has a clinical duty of care and his parents are refusing to accept their conclusions. I suppose the path of least resistance is to allow his parents to remove him , but that in itself sets a dangerous precedent. No one wins in this legal battle though, it’s a sad situation
typical SJW behaviour, read sensation on social media and swallow every word with out bothering to fact check any of it, then act like utter twats with their sense of moral superiority.
