London hospital asks for another court hearing to reconsider treatment of Charlie Gard
Charlie Gard, an 11-month-old baby who suffers from a rare genetic condition, is getting another chance to receive treatment after the London hospital where he was admitted asked for a new court hearing to reconsider his case.
On Friday, the Great Ormond Street Hospital announced that it has asked U.K.'s High Court for a new hearing to reconsider Charlie's case "in light of claims of new evidence relating to potential treatment for his condition."
Charlie's parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, have been fighting court battles to for the right to bring the baby to the U.S. for an experimental treatment. But English courts ruled in favor of the hospital, which argued that the treatment would not improve the baby's quality of life.
The couple filed an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, but in late June, the court declined to hear their case.
The London hospital stated that it made the decision to ask for another court hearing after researchers from two international hospitals contacted them to say that they have "fresh evidence about their proposed experimental treatment."
A Presbyterian hospital in New York and a Vatican-owned pediatric facility have offered to continue treatment for Charlie, who could only breathe through a ventilator and is fed through a tube. The hospital in New York also offered to ship the experimental treatment in the U.K. as another option.
According to The Telegraph, the London hospital has been forbidden from allowing the 11-month-old to travel elsewhere to receive nucleoside therapy because of a High Court ruling.
On Sunday, Gard and Yates joined members of "Charlie's Army," as the group handed over a petition to Great Ormond Street vowing: "If he's still fighting, we're still fighting."
The parents begged judges to allow Charlie to receive a "miracle" treatment, insisting "we don't want him in the ground, we want him riding a bike."
Yates noted that the potential cure known as nucleoside bypass therapy has been used to treat a little girl in Spain with a similar condition to Charlie.
"This medication has up to 10 per cent chance of working for Charlie," Yates told The Sun. "There's 18 children currently on this medication, they're all getting stronger, they're all getting better. It's a miracle what happens. One girl was on a ventilator and a year later she was riding a bike," she added.