Parents’ agony after severely disabled baby who had been on a ventilator since he was 18 minutes old was allowed to die after court ruling
His parents had protested against stopping the treatment
A SEVERELY disabled baby has died after a High Court judge decided that life-support should be stopped, against his parents' wishes.
The baby boy had been on a ventilator since he was 18 minutes old.
Hospital bosses had asked for permission to stop providing the treatment to the three and a half month old boy. His parents had objected to the request.
A lawyer representing the trust said the child died late on Saturday.
Bosses at Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust had asked for a ruling on what was in the boy's best interests.
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Mr Justice Hayden heard that the boy suffered from the most severe type of spinal muscular atrophy - a hereditary condition that affects nerve cells connecting muscles to the brain and spinal cord.
Specialists said the condition was degenerative and incurable, and the burden treatment placed on the boy outweighed any benefit.
He had also been told that the child was put on a ventilator just 18 minutes after being born and had no prospects of being removed from intensive care.
The judge ruled in favour of the hospital late on Friday after analysing evidence at a hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London.
The baby's 22-year-old mother wept as the judge announced his decision.
She had said the boy had smiled every day and was " a fighter".
Both parents had argued that the boy had experienced pleasure and that his life had not yet come to the point where it should end.
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