Baby RB father drops life support challenge
Updated on 10 November 2009
Unable to move, unable to breathe on his own: the baby at the centre of a "right to life" court battle will be allowed to die in peace after his father dropped his fight to keep the little boy alive.
The child cannot breathe without the aid of a ventilator. Doctors and the child's mother had gone to court to enable his life support to be switched off.
His father, who is separated from the baby's mother, was contesting the advice and wanted to investigate a possible new treatment.
The estranged parents broke down in tears as the judge paid tribute. In one moment, he said, all their hopes and dreams for their child had been replaced by a life filled with "worry, stress, exhaustion, confusion and no doubt great sadness".
Lawyers for the health authority caring for the baby in intensive care told Mr Justice McFarlane: "All of the parties in court now agree that it would be in R's best interests for the course suggested by the doctors to be followed."
Both parents have been described repeatedly during the seven-day court hearing as devoted and exceptional parents.
Baby RB was born in October last year with what is thought to be congenital myasthenic syndrome (CMS), a rare neuromuscular condition which severely limits the ability to breathe and move limbs.
Expert medical witnesses described him as having a normal brain locked inside an immobile and "non-communicative" body.
Their principle concern was that he was unable to show, by facial expression or bodily movement, when he was in pain during the stressful treatment he had to undergo, including regular "suctioning" of his airways to remove fluid.
Professor Terence Stephenson, president of the Royal College of Paedatrics and Child Health, told Channel 4 News: "In our guidance it makes very clear that doctors who are in any doubt at all in an emergency situation, we should always err on the side of saving a child's life.
"The great assistant in this kind of process, as we see in these kinds of difficult cases, is time. And time allows a family to come to terms, to reach a common judgement with their faith leaders, with their extended family, with their doctors.
"To make a snap decision when a child is acutely ill is not something we would advise."
More information on Sophie Patmore, featured in the film, can be found here.
The Patmore's are supported by 'Breathe On' who can be found here.
