Editor’s note. As we were about to post this update, the Liverpool Echo reported, “All grounds of appeal were refused by Lord Justice McFarlane.” We will provide a further update within the hour.
Following a hearing before Court of Appeal judges Lord Justice McFarlane, Lord Justice Coulson, and Lady Justice King, a decision is expected tonight in the appeal of Tom Evans and Kate James to transfer their seriously ill son to Gesu Children’s Hospital in Italy, which has indicated its willingness to admit their 23-month-old son.
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool disconnected Alfie’s ventilator a little after 9pm Monday night. Although the hospital now insists it is no surprise, Alfie has been breathing on his own ever since.
However it is a race against time because he is receiving only water.
The deadly irony is that Alder Hey essentially insists that Gesu Children’s Hospital can do nothing more than they have for Alfie. Of course beyond performing a tracheotomy, they could—and would—feed him!
If the summary updates provided by the Liverpool Echo properly caught the tone of the judges’ questions, it would seem the second highest court in Great Britain continues not to be open to the appeal made for the couple by lawyers Paul Diamond and Jason Coppel.
During the hearing, the hospital insisted Alfie’s breathing did not mean a “change in circumstances.” Why? According to the hospital attorney Michael Mylonas, “It was never suggested that death would be instantaneous.”
But that never suggested in court, at least not according to news accounts.
For example when Mr. Justice Hayden, the trial judge, asked one unnamed expert how quickly Alfie would die once the ventilator was disconnected, he was obviously angling for a certain answer, which he got: it “could be quite quick.”
Earlier this afternoon (London time), Diamond told the court, according to the Echo, that “an Italian embassy representative was in court” and that
an air ambulance was on standby at the “request of the Pope”.
He added: “My general conversation with Mr Evans is ‘save my boy’.”
Diamond later argued
that there had been a “significant change of circumstances” because life-support treatment had stopped, but Alfie was still breathing. He said an “alternative” was available.
Earlier today,
Evans, who is at the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, posted a live video on Facebook in which, the Echo reported, he
said Alfie’s life had been “sustained” for a third time.
He said: “The warrior strikes again. He’s back. He’s just had a little dip, he went pale, lips started going a little bit but he’s back.”
He added: “Just wanted everyone to know Alfie’s stabilised
The couple has suffered an unbroken string of defeats both in the British courts and in the European Court of Human Rights. But they refuse to give in. Neither does “Alfie’s Army.”
NRL News Today will continue to update you.
Daniel Miller is responsible for nearly all of National Right to Life News' political writing.
With the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency, Daniel Miller developed a deep obsession with U.S. politics that has never let go of the political scientist. Whether it's the election of Joe Biden, the midterm elections in Congress, the abortion rights debate in the Supreme Court or the mudslinging in the primaries - Daniel Miller is happy to stay up late for you.
Daniel was born and raised in New York. After living in China, working for a news agency and another stint at a major news network, he now lives in Arizona with his two daughters.
