Disturbing Reading Indeed.
What I find the most disturbing about the Charlie Gard case is not the fact that a loving family are dealing with raising a child with extremely severe disabilities, for a possibly very short period of time, but the fact that they’re being told they can’t take their child for treatment elsewhere. In the opinion of the hospital treating Charlie, the treatment is not going to work. For me, this is irrelevant. If they wanted to take their son to see a witch doctor, I’d not have a damn thing to say. It is frankly nobodies business but theirs.
So what if the treatment doesn’t work, and Charlie doesn’t make it. At least they can look each other in the eyes and say they did everything for their son. I don’t like this situation, I find it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Who has the right to over-ride the wishes of a law-abiding family on the basis of a difference in opinion? The hospital has taken this arrogant approach to the situation and this is a struggle not just for the responsibility of a very sick little boy, but a struggle for power. The hospital clearly think they know best and are prepared to use their vast resources to bully and intimidate this poor family.
I say good luck to the parents, and more than good luck to Charlie. If there is any hope, any light, let it shine brightly. However, there is something bigger at work here, something more important than one life. This experimental treatment may be in the baby steps phase, but with each application, each patient, more learning and research can be done which perhaps could be much more positively received in the future. Maybe its not possible to save Charlie, but it’s possible to admit that it was wrong to deny a family their last wishes for their beloved and cherished little treasure.
