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| Alfie Evans: Continuing life support 'futile' | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| The father of a seriously ill 20-month-old boy broke down in tears as a court was told further hospital treatment would be "futile". | |
| Tom Evans and Kate James, both 20 and from Bootle, Liverpool, want to take their son Alfie abroad for treatment. | Tom Evans and Kate James, both 20 and from Bootle, Liverpool, want to take their son Alfie abroad for treatment. |
| The hearing to decide if life support should be withdrawn from Alfie, who has a mystery illness, was stopped briefly while Mr Evans was comforted by family. | |
| UK doctors said continuing treatment was unkind, the court heard. | |
| Alfie is in a "semi-vegetative state" and has a degenerative neurological condition that has not been precisely diagnosed. | |
| 'Catastrophic brain degradation' | |
| Mr Justice Hayden, who told the court he himself had had the "privilege" of visiting Alfie in hospital, said: "Everybody in this court shares the same objectives, everybody wants the best for Alfie." | |
| His parents believe he responds to them, but Liverpool Family Court heard any movements by the child are spontaneous seizures as a result of touching. | |
| Michael Mylonas QC, representing the hospital, said: "One of the problems of this case is they look at him and, barring the paraphernalia of breathing and feeding, he's a sweet, lovely, normal-looking boy who opens his eyes, [and] will smile..." | |
| Mr Mylonas said scans of Alfie had shown "catastrophic degradation of his brain tissue" which was getting worse. | |
| He said that, at the request of the parents, three medical experts from the Vatican-linked Bambino Gesu Paediatric Hospital in Rome had visited Alfie in Alder Hey. | |
| They had reached the same conclusions in terms of the "complete futility" of trying to find a cure or alleviating his seizures. | |
| The Italian experts had suggested operations to help Alfie breathe and feed and keep him alive for an "undefined period". | |
| But Dr Martin Samuels, an expert in the ventilation of children, believed such operations were "inappropriate". | |
| "I think we are all agreed from the medical perspective that life expectancy is limited" he said. | |
| Supporters wearing T-shirts saying "release Alfie Evans" are also at the two-day hearing. | |
| Despite mediation between the parents and specialists caring for Alfie at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, the city's family court will decide the child's fate. | |
| It follows a preliminary hearing at the High Court in London last year when Mr Justice Hayden said everyone wanted what was best for Alfie, but ruled he would make a decision if agreement could not be reached after hearing from both sides. | It follows a preliminary hearing at the High Court in London last year when Mr Justice Hayden said everyone wanted what was best for Alfie, but ruled he would make a decision if agreement could not be reached after hearing from both sides. |
| Doctors at Alder Hey believe they should stop "mechanical ventilation" for Alfie, who was born in May 2016. | |