Charlie Gard, a terminally ill British baby, will spend the final days of his life in hospice, a judge said Wednesday, according to The Telegraph.
Charlie suffers from mitochondrial depletion syndrome, a rare genetic disease. On Monday, the boy's parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, ended their monthslong legal battle to bring Charlie to the United States for an experimental treatment after an American doctor said it is now too late to treat him.
Gard and Yates had requested that their 11-month-old son be allowed to spend his final days at home, but the Great Ormond Street Hospital objected, arguing that plan was not in the best interest of the baby.
According to the BBC, Charlie’s parents have requested a week with their son before his life support was removed in the hospice, but they have been unable to find an intensive care specialist, which the hospital said was "essential" for Charlie's care.
High Court Judge Nicholas Francis set a deadline for noon Thursday for the parents and the hospital to come to an agreement on Charlie’s end-of-life care. He said that, if the parties fail to reach an agreement, Charlie would be moved to hospice care anyway and his life support would be ended soon after.
"I have gone out of my way to accommodate the parents’ wishes," Francis said in court, according to the Mirror. "I must consider Charlie’s best interests."
When the decision was made, Yates shouted, "I hope you are happy with yourselves," and left the court in tears, according to multiple reports.
According to the Telegraph, the family's lawyer, Grant Armstrong, said that Yates "has been here for these proceedings and in the last 24 hours trying to conduct resources and would like time with Charlie.
“If I say a week or so, I would hope that is something that can be accommodated," he added.
Armstrong said hospital officials were placing obstacles in Charlie's parents' way.
"The parents wish for a few days of tranquility outside of a hospital setting," Armstrong said. "The parents had hoped that Great Ormond Street would work with them."
He said that nurses at the Great Ormond Street Hospital have volunteered to care for Charlie at a hospice if the judge agreed to it.
"Ironically, the position I am informed today is several of the nurses at Great Ormond Street have volunteered to assist with the care for Charlie. May I pay tribute to those nurses for volunteering,” he said.
Charlie’s parents posted a plea for help on Facebook:
