Christian parents lose bid to send disabled son, four, to Italian hospital ... trends now

A Christian mother and father have lost their bid to send their severely disabled four-year-old son to a Vatican backed hospital in Italy after a judge ruled that he should not be 'forced to live'.

The boy, who was born with serious disabilities and cannot see or hear, has been kept alive by life support machines at London's King's College Hospital since 2023, after suffering a serious infection of the brain which led to two heart attacks.

His Catholic parents insist their son 'has awareness of what might be called beneficial or positive interactions with the world around him' and 'knows us and knows he is loved'.

But doctors at the hospital applied to the Family Division of the High Court to withdraw his life-sustaining treatment on the basis that the burdens on him 'far, far outweigh' any benefits.

The decision has been fought tooth and nail by the parents, identified only as Mr and Mrs R, who say their son is 'a gift from God' and it is 'wholly unethical to bring about his death by choice'.

But Mr Justice Poole, ruled in a High Court case brought by King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, that his life support should be cut off.

He said: 'When so much medical intervention is required to keep a child alive, there may come a point at which the burdens of that treatment outweigh its benefits to the child to such an extent that the child should be spared the treatment and those burdens even though their life will probably end sooner than if the treatments were continued.

'They are not 'forced to die' but should not be 'forced to live' and may be relieved of the burdens of treatment and be 'allowed to die',' the judge said.

The judge had also refused to give the parents extra time to explore transferring their sick son to 'a hospital associated with the Vatican' in Italy where life support would be continued, saying 'it would be equally contrary to his best interests to receive such treatment in Italy as in England.'

Giving his ruling, the judge said: 'Most decisions about withdrawing life sustaining treatment from a child are made by agreement between clinicians and parents, not by judges.

'Here, despite dialogue, good relations, and mutual respect, there is no agreement between the Trust and the parents and so, upon the Trust's application, the court is required to make decisions about NR's treatment.

'In making those decisions, a judge puts aside their own ethical views or any religious beliefs and applies the key, well-established, legal principles.

'Mr and Mrs R gave evidence together. Their evidence was powerful.

'They told me that it had never entered their minds to terminate Mrs R's pregnancy after they had been told of NR's congenital abnormalities following scanning.

'They thought then, and think now, that NR is a gift from God. He has enhanced their lives. His life

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