The story behind the heartbreak and chaos surrounding little Alfie Evans and his parents’ bid to keep him alive
LAST night dad Tom Evans lost his latest legal bid to have desperately ill son Alfie flown to Italy for treatment.
Medical experts here say Alfie can no longer be helped and should be allowed to die peacefully, in a case that has stirred passion and anger on all sides.
RESTING gently on his mother’s chest, Alfie Evans looks like any other toddler enjoying a cuddle.
Yet this could be one of their last embraces, as Alfie enters the final countdown of his fight for life.
The tot has stubbornly clung to life since doctors turned off his ventilator at 9pm last Monday.
His parents Tom, 21, and Kate James, 20, have been locked in talks with hospital staff to decide if he can be allowed to come home to die.
Tom yesterday told friends the 23-month-old was “comfortable, content and fighting” in intensive care at Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool.
He said: “He’s more comfortable now he’s got no tube and he’s breathing for himself. He’s showing no sign of suffering or that he needs support.”
Yet support has come in many forms. A crowd dubbed “Alfie’s Army” threatened to storm Alder Hey, leaving staff fearing for their safety, while dozens of police stand guard.
At the weekend, others chanted “Burn it down!” outside the hospital, cheered motorbike gangs performing wheelies in Alfie’s honour, drank beer and watched their kids play on a bouncy castle bizarrely erected outside.
Italy bid block
ALFIE EVANS’ father Tom last night declared his son a “warrior” despite losing a legal bid to fly the lad abroad for treatment.
The Court of Appeal backed a High Court ruling blocking plans to move him to Italy.
Tom Evans and Kate James say life-support treatment should continue, arguing Alfie had confounded expectations by continuing to breathe despite being taken off a ventilator.
They said his continued survival amounted to a significant change of circumstances, which merited a review. But a High Court judge ruled against them on Tuesday and three Court of Appeal judges dismissed their challenge on Wednesday.
Lawyers for Alder Hey said Alfie’s condition was irreversible and there was no evidence it had changed. They said the fact that he had continued to breathe unaided might have surprised the public but had not surprised specialists.
Earlier this week Alfie was granted Italian citizenship in a move designed to pave the way for a possible switch to Rome.
Some travelled miles to vent their fury, while others are debating the case fiercely on social media.
The “Alfie’s Army” public group on Facebook has more than 380,000 members — countered by thousands who support the prevailing medical opinion and think Alfie should be allowed to slip away peacefully.
Meanwhile, lawyers have argued the case before courts in London, Liverpool and Manchester as Alfie’s parents try to overturn the ruling to withdraw treatment.
Tom and Kate — who notably now have separate legal teams — have been assisted by the Christian Legal Centre, a group linked to Christian Concern, which campaigns against homosexuality and abortion.
At a hearing in Manchester on Tuesday, CLC lawyer Pavel Stroilov was described by a High Court judge as “fanatical and deluded”, preparing a witness statement from Tom “littered with bile” that did nothing to help their cause. Stroilov had urged the parents to sue the hospital.
So how did the little lad from Liverpool find himself at the centre of a storm that has provoked such strong feelings on both sides?
Alfie was born on May 9, 2016, at Liverpool’s Women’s Hospital — where Coleen Rooney gave birth to her four children.
He was described as a “happy, smiling baby who seemed perfectly well” and after three days he and mum Kate, who was then 18, were sent home to Dingle, Liverpool.
Kate’s worries began two months later. Alfie had a “divergent squint”, was smiling less, sleeping more and not reaching out for toys. After an appointment at Alder Hey in November, his development was described as being four months behind his age range.
On December 14, he was admitted to A&E after suffering a 20-minute seizure. He was admitted to a high-dependency unit and five days later had a cardiac arrest. He then fought off pneumonia. Tests suggested the problems could be being caused by a rare mitochondrial disorder that stops his body converting food to energy.
Alder Hey has now been Alfie’s home for 498 days but the battle over his future has intensified in the past six months.
His parents say they should decide what is best for their son. That was the case made by the parents of Charlie Gard, a baby who died last year after a similar battle over his treatment.
Yet the 1989 Children Act says that when a youngster is at risk, the State can — and should — intervene.
Alder Hey therefore had to go to court to over-ride this parental responsibility, arguing that “continued ventilator support is not in Alfie’s best interests and in the circumstances it is not lawful that such treatment continue”.
The judge agreed and said Alfie had a right to “peace, quiet and privacy”.
Last July, Tom and Kate sought treatment away from Alder Hey. Italy’s Bambino Gesu Hospital indicated it had a team ready to treat him if a UK judge granted permission for Alfie to travel.
And last week Tom himself flew to Rome for a 20-minute private hearing with Pope Francis, saying in a statement: “Our child is sick but not dying and does not deserve to die. We pray the problem is solved peacefully and respectfully. No child deserves this, especially a child of God.”
Pope Francis led a silent prayer and said: “It’s our duty to do everything to care for life.”
While there, Tom may have asked for forgiveness over an incident five years ago when he stabbed another teenager in a row over a bike. Tom, then 15, twice knifed Owen Connor as he cycled home.
One wound burst his lung while the other was just millimetres from his heart. Ironically, doctors at Alder Hey saved Owen’s life.
Owen’s mum Christine, 42, wrote on Facebook: “How can a stranger come along and decide your child’s fate? That’s what you did to my baby. The day you stabbed him will haunt us all for the rest of our days.”
Tom messaged Christine to apologise, writing: “I am so sorry for what I have caused. I am only doing this for Alfie not me.
"People can say whatever they want about my past. I am fighting for Alfie not fame or money.
“I have put my family through a lot and am trying to pay them back and show them I am a man of respect, kindness and devotion for my son and family.
“Whoever wants to change their view on me, feel free. This was a stupid mistake and I will regret it for the rest of my life.”
Tom again spoke proudly of Alfie’s spirit, saying the boy had “given it his all.”
So too have the doctors, lawyers and supporters in both camps. Sadly, there can be no real winners in this tragic story.
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