The devastated parents of baby Charlie Gard have been given more time to say their painful goodbyes to their son, according to The Evening Standard.
Connie and Chris Gard had recently revealed that Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) would not allow them to bring their son home to die and would not give them extra time for relatives to travel to see Charlie before he dies.
Charlie is currently on life-support at the hospital which was due to be withdrawn yesterday after a legal challenge by his parents to keep him alive failed.
A spokeswoman for the hospital said yesterday: "Together with Charlie's parents we are putting plans in place for his care, and to give them more time together as a family.
"We would ask you to give the family and our staff some space and privacy at this distressing time."
Connie and Chris released a distressing video on Thursday in which they said they had been prevented from taking Charlie home to die.
They claim to have been previously given the option of bringing Charlie home or to a hospice at the end of his treatment; however, when they met with hospital executives yesterday, they were told that neither of these options were viable.
“We want to give him a bath; we want to sit on the sofa with him; we want to sleep in the bed with him; we want to put him in the cot he has never slept in – but we are now being denied that,” Chris explained.
“We had a meeting yesterday, where we were told we were going to discuss our options. We said we’d like to take him home; if that’s not possible, we said we’d like to take him to a hospice – they said no to both. He has to die in that hospital, tomorrow.”
During the emotional video, they say they “begged” hospital executives for more time to allow relatives who live far away to come to see Charlie but were denied their request.
“Our parental rights have been stripped away,” Chris said. “We can’t even take our own son home to die – we’ve been denied that.”
Their emotional plea generated a huge response across social media with campaigners pledging their support to the family.
The Vatican has issued a statement in support of Charlie’s parents saying: "Dear Charlie, dear parents Chris Gard and Connie Yates, we are praying for you and with you."
We are thinking of Charlie, Connie and Chris at this incredibly sad time.
