Do you think the judge was right that the next time baby Charlotte stops breathing she be allowed to die natrually without being resuscitated.

Will judges be asked to rule on more cases like this ?

Its such a difficult one - could you imagine being in that position as a parent?????

I spose the experts look objectively and if they say there is no chance of the little un making a recovery then perhaps thats what shud happen.

Sure the parents wud agree.......after time.

It can`t be easy for the judge to make a decision like that

I think there has to be a third party, to help make a decision.

I know everyone will want what is best for the baby but my heart goes out to the parents.

Could you imagine being in that position as a child? To be born and know only pain? To achieve peace, only to be jolted back to life, and pain, with no prospect of an end to this. I'm concerned that we, as a society have got used to getting when we say 'I want'. A living hell is no life.

I have a deep sympathy with the parents. nobody should ever have to endure the pain of outliving their child.

one man's "unbearable" is another man's "normal"

I have, since I began having to rely on a wheelchair, some years ago, been told on many occasions "My god, If I were in your position, PT, I'd slit my wrists! how can you bear it?"

To me, I have not got an unbearable life. I agree, that sometimes, it's frustrating, living with physical limitations, but, meh! at least i am alive, and compos mentis.

I have a happy, productive life. I hold down a job that i love, and have a great time with our grandchildren, whom we adore. I go to many different places with my granddaughter, we have had train trips to the coast, to York, and leeds, and Barnsley, to name but a few destinations.

of course, it's perfectly natural, these parents want to keep their baby alive, by whatever means necessary. it's their baby, who they love.

I can perfectly understand the parents' reluctance to permit the doctors to withdraw treatment.

If I were in the same position as this baby's parents, I would fight tooth and nail to keep my baby alive.

I owuld be saying "over my cold, dead body, will you withdraw treatment!"

what do you do? how do you say something as dreadful as "yes, doc, switch the ventilator off!" and wipe out your child's life?

I am firmly of the feeling "where there's life, there's hope.

this is the most dreadful dilemma ever to face a parent.. the choice of permitting your child to die!

who among us could put their feelings aside, and agree to the ending of a child's life? Horrendous!

PT

I think we are talking about a baby here that has been given no choices but to live with no prospects of ever having a normal life!
The doctors have stated that the young child is in constant pain and will probably not last another year even with the life support systems.

I think that the parents are being selfish!
This poor child has only known a hospital bed and life support!...is it not wrong for humans to play god?
If this child was not on a life support system.....The child would have died a long time ago which would end the pain and suffering!

To be kept alive if there was some chance of recovery is different to the opposite where the only conclusion will be a slow painfull death.

Thank you DerekH.

I would not condone the killing of this child, but the constant revival is more like torturing the poor kid to death, as death is the only certainty in this case. Sorry if I've touched a raw nerve, Plain Talker, but every person's circumstance should be treated on it's own merit, and your's seems very different to this.

4 weeks ago I was standing in a treatment room wondering if I could face 'the kindest thing' for my best friend. Ok, he's a beagle, but it tore my heart apart watching him squealing and panting in pain, clawing at me with the non-paralysed paws. The vets couldn't find the problem, but were saying 'he's young and he's fit, he'll be fine'. When the specialist identified the problem (ruptured disc, way closer to the neck than usual) he said that just giving him pain killers and rest would not have cured this case. We only just got him to surgery in time.

The parents will be faced with dealing with the death of their child soon. I hope they find peace in their hearts eventually.

Maybe the parents are too emotionally involved to make a correct decision.

Thought the judge explained his ruling rather well.
The parents had already decided not to appeal, so this effectively took the decision over life out of their hands. Hope the healing process can start for them now.

From what I have heard/read about the case, I feel the judge probably made the best decision... I think there is a case for stopping actively intervening to keep someone alive in some cases, which is different from doing something to kill a person who is ill but not on a life support machine.

However, I do think it is very harsh to call the parents "selfish". They presumably want what they feel is best for their baby and I think we should sympathise with them instead of labelling them as selfish.

It must be difficult to accept when as a parent you out live your child.

Originally posted by Patchy
From what I have heard/read about the case, I feel the judge probably made the best decision... I think there is a case for stopping actively intervening to keep someone alive in some cases, which is different from doing something to kill a person who is ill but not on a life support machine.

However, I do think it is very harsh to call the parents "selfish". They presumably want what they feel is best for their baby and I think we should sympathise with them instead of labelling them as selfish.

If the parents wanted what was best for the child the case would never have gone to court.
I cannot comprehend how any parent could watch their children go through what this baby has gone through and call it love.

I used to have 4 sons now I have 3.
My eldest, god rest his soul had leukimia and went through hell with transfusions and pain to which I could do nothing to help.

When the time came where the doctors had done all they could I was given the news and accepted their decision to allow him to go in peace.
He passed away in his sleep at the age of 4.

Over the past 22 years I have thought about him and constantly question why I allowed my son to suffer the way he did for so long.

My one conclusion was that if I did love him so much, why allow him pain and suffering in return for that love.

I know in my heart now that he has gone to a better place without pain

I think the judge was right.
At first I thoguht the parents were being selfish putting their child through that, but I reckon that if you are in that situation you just want to cling to any ounce of hope there is - you hear of miracle children that survive against all the odds, they are probably just hoping that their child will be one of those, sometimes the decision needs to behanded over to someone else.

I feel really sorry for the Drs that have to keep resuscitating the baby though, it must be really distressing.

I don't know all about this case, but from what little I have heard I can't see how the judge would ever have come to a different decision.

The only way he could have come to another decision was to say "the parent is always right" - and that would open up the way for who knows what - probably in most cases would be religious freaks who don't believe in such things as blood transfusions. (spologies to any religious freask here who don't!)