Baby RB nurse cries in court
Updated on 09 November 2009
The nurse of the one-year-old boy whose parents are embroiled in a legal battle over whether he should be kept alive breaks down in court.
The nurse of a severely disabled baby boy who is being kept alive in hospital broke down in court today as she described the suffering he is going through.
The one-year-old child, who can only be referered to as RB, cannot breathe without the aid of a ventilator. The hospital caring for him, backed by his mother, wants his life support machine turned off. His father, however, wants to investigate a possible new treatment.
His nurse said his parents both clearly wanted what was best for their child.
The nurse, who has been one of the child's principal carers since April, took questions on the child's condition from four different barristers - one representing the hospital caring for the child, another representing the child's father, another for the child's mother and another for the guardian appointed on behalf of the child's welfare.
It was when the nurse was asked by the mother's barrister to discuss what the little boy's "bad days" are like that she found it difficult to continue giving evidence.
The boy she is caring for has been in a paediatric intensive care unit since the day he was born. He suffers from an unknown sub-type of a rare neuromuscular disorder called congential myasthenic syndrome.
His eyes rarely open, his limbs are virtually immobile - he is totally dependent on a ventilator helping him breathe - but his brain is functioning.
The hospital, supported by the child's mother, wants his life support withdrawn. The father, who is separated from the mother, is contesting that. He wants the child to be given a tracheostomy, an artificial airway created in his neck, and then to be given life support at home.
The child's nurse echoed what his principal consultant said last week - that it was time to withdraw treatment completely.
The boy's mother and father, who are in their twenties and have both been described repeatedly in court as devoted and exceptional parents, are expected to give evidence tomorrow.
