Charlie Gard 'will die knowing he was loved', say parents
Charlie Gard's parents say on their Facebook page that they have all been "massively let down throughout this whole process".
Friday 30 June 2017 16:55, UK
The parents of terminally ill baby Charlie Gard have said he will die "knowing he was loved by thousands" when his life support is turned off today.
In a post on Facebook on Thursday, Chris Gard and Connie Yates wrote: "We are utterly heartbroken spending our last precious hours with our baby boy.
"We're not allowed to choose if our son lives and we're not allowed to choose when or where Charlie dies.
"We and most importantly Charlie have been massively let down throughout this whole process. Charlie will die tomorrow (Friday) knowing that he was loved by thousands... thank you to everyone for all your support!"
His parents had set up a fundraising page to raise money for their 10-month-old son to receive treatment in the US for a rare genetic condition, but Great Ormond Street doctors said the experimental therapy would not help.
Mr Gard and Miss Yates took their case to the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court but judges ruled in favour of the doctors.
Finally, they went to the European Court of Human Rights which refused to intervene.
Great Ormond Street bosses have said their priority was to support Charlie's parents and they would work closely with the family to discuss the next steps in Charlie's care.
They said: "In Charlie's case we have been discussing for many months how the withdrawal of treatment may work.
"Discussions and planning in these situations usually take some days, based on the experience of our clinical teams."
Charlie was born on 4 August 2016 with a form of mitochondrial disease - a genetic condition which causes progressive muscle weakness and brain damage.