Update: A judge has rejected Alfie Evans' parents' request to transport their son to Italy for treatment, despite the little boy expectedly surviving on his own after being removed from life support.
The Guardian is reporting Alfie Evans, a British toddler with a rare degenerative brain condition, breathed on his own and fought for his life a full six hours after being forcibly removed off life support last night against his parents’ wishes.
The little boy was taken off his oxygen machine Monday night after multiple courts denied his parents’ request to transport their son to a hospital in Italy for an experimental treatment to save his life. Doctors at Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool expected that he would pass away quickly once the ventilator was turned off.
But he didn’t.
Instead, Alfie is battling on and has been placed back on oxygen, but is still reportedly being denied food. His parents are seeking a last minute lifting of the court order so they can fly their son to Italy, saying they already have medical transportation standing by to airlift him the moment the hospital releases him.
Tom Evans and Kate James will ask that an order preventing their Alfie’s removal from Alder Hey hospital to be lifted. Roger Kiska, a solicitor for the group Christian Concern, said medical transportation was available to take Alfie to Italy, where he has been offered treatment, at once if they win the appeal.
“We are asking to lift all orders preventing Alfie from leaving Alder Hey and allow him to go to Italy. There’s medical transportation ready at any moment to take him,” he said.
“Everything is in place,” he added. “We have no doubt that he would survive the trip. He would have full treatment, oxygen and everything, right to Italy. It’s in his best interests to get treatment at a hospital abroad.”
Alfie's parents say they have no doubt their son would survive the journey.
At this point, anything short of allowing Alfie to be taken to another hospital for treatment would be outright murder.