Charlie Gard’s Family Accuses London Hospital Of Wasting Too Much Time

With a heavy heart and tears in her eyes, the 11-month-old terminally ill Charlie Gard’s mother, Connie Yates, criticized London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) of wasting time and delaying her son's treatment until it was too late as she and her husband announced their decision to end their legal fight to save their son.

According to a Telegraph report, Charlie’s life support system will be switched off in the coming days. His weeping mother said her little tot won’t live to see his first birthday, two weeks from now.

Read: Charlie Gard News: London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital Staff Receives Death Threat

The 31-year-old Connie Yates announced her decision to end Charlie’s life support in a touching statement to the High Court.

“The last 11 nearly 12 months have been the best, the worst and ultimately life changing months of our lives but Charlie is Charlie and we wouldn't change him for the world. All our efforts have been for him. This is one of the hardest things that we will ever have to say and we are about to do the hardest thing that we'll ever have to do which is to let our beautiful little Charlie go,” Yates said.

“We are truly devastated to say that following the most recent MRI scan of Charlie's muscles, as requested in the recent MDT meeting by Dr. Hirano; as Charlie's devoted and loving parents we have decided that it's no longer in Charlie's best interests to pursue treatment and we will let our son go and be with the angels,” she added.

Yates, in her statement, condemned the hospital for not providing timely treatment to Charlie.

“Charlie's muscles have deteriorated to the extent that it is largely irreversible and, were a treatment to work, his quality of life would now not be one which we would want for our precious little boy," she said in a statement.

"There is one simple reason for Charlie's muscles deteriorating to the extent they are in now - TIME. A whole lot of wasted time. Had Charlie been given the treatment sooner he would have had the potential to be a normal, healthy little boy,” she asserted.

Charlie’s parents also expressed their gratitude towards their legal team who stood by them in their fight without demanding a single penny, the Independent reported.

“Firstly, I would like to thank our legal team who have worked tirelessly on our behalf for free. And to the nurses and staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital who have cared for Charlie and kept him comfortable and stable for so long. We would also like to thank everybody who supported us, including all the people here for us today.”

Read: Charlie Gard Gets Permanent US Resident Status For Treatment: Similar Instances When Help Poured In For Him

Speaking to reporters outside the court, Chris Gard, Charlie's father said, “This is one of the hardest things we will have to say…this is about a sweet innocent boy born with a disease. We have decided it’s no longer in Charlie’s interest to have treatment. Our son is an absolute warrior and we will miss him. We are now going to spend our last precious moments with our son. We would ask our privacy is respected. We are so sorry we could not save you, sleep tight our sweet boy, we love you,” Metro News reported.