Charlie Gard, the terminally ill baby at the centre of a protracted legal battle over his treatment, has died, a family spokesperson has confirmed.
He was just one week away from his first birthday.
“Our beautiful little boy has gone, we’re so proud of him,” his mother, Connie Yates, said in a statement.
The hospital where baby Charlie was being treated have also released a statement.
“Everyone at Great Ormond Street Hospital sends their heartfelt condolences to Charlie’s parents and loved ones at this very sad time,” a spokeswoman for Great Ormond Street Hospital said.
Charlie’s story and his parents’ legal battle caught the attention of world leaders and high-profile figures near and far, with the likes of UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Pope Francis taking to social media to share their thoughts, prayers and deepest condolences with the young family.
Charlie suffered from a rare genetic disease called mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome — a condition that robbed him of the ability to move his limbs, eat or even breathe unassisted. He also experienced seizures.
Specialists at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London came to the conclusion that it would be in little Charlie’s best interest to go off life support in order to undergo palliative care. A team of specialists in Barcelona, providing a second opinion, concurred with the heartbreaking decision.
But, Charlie’s parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, went on to fight a five-month campaign to have their child transferred to the US for experimental treatment in the hopes of providing “a meaningful life.”
They took their case to the courts, and then to the European Court of Human Rights, where their appeals were eventually denied.
The couple recently announced the end of their legal fight, revealing that their child had deteriorated to the point of no return.
“There is one simple reason why treatment cannot now go ahead: We are now in July and our poor boy has been left to lie in hospital for months without any treatment while lengthy court battles have been fought,” Chris Gard said in a statement delivered to press outside the UK High Court. “Had Charlie been given the treatment sooner he would have had the potential to be a normal healthy little boy.”
“Despite his condition in January, Charlie’s muscles were in pretty good shape and he was far from showing catastrophic irreversible structural brain damage. Charlie’s been left with his illness to deteriorate, devastatingly, to the point of no return.”
WATCH: Charlie’s parents deliver a heartbreaking statement. Post continues…
Chris, who described his son as a “warrior,” went on to address his only child directly.
“We are now going to spend our last precious moments with our son Charlie, who unfortunately won’t make his first birthday in just under two weeks,” he said. “To Charlie, we say from Mummy and Daddy we love you so much. We always have and we always will and we are so sorry we couldn’t save you.”
Our thoughts are with the family during this unimaginably difficult time.
