Judge orders boy's life support machine to be turned off

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  • Judge rules boy's life support should be turned off against family's wishes
    His heartbroken parents have been 'fighting for his life' for months.
    metro.co.uk

    A very usetting story this one and it will go to appeal before anything happens.

    In making his decision, the judge said that, ‘I find that irreversible cessation of brain stem function has been conclusively established." The judge has based his decision on a MRI scan of the kid.

    The family want to keep the boy on the life support machine, but if the boy's brain stem is dead, that is brain death as we know it and the boy has no chance to regain consciousness or breathe on his own again.

    The question is who has the right to decide what hapens next? The State or the family?

  • The problem is it's a state funded hospital. I guess if the family paid for it themselves they could put the kid on life support forever or even cryogenics, especially over in the US. It's terribly sad but the parents are not thinking about the child here. It's their own selfish loss they don't wont. There's no room for love when making decisions like this. Maybe they can take him to a taxidermist and then they can have him in their life forever. I probably sound really heartless and harsh but one should be able to remove emotions when making these decisions hence why the court decided.

  • What a terrible decision to have to make, I can fully understand the desperate situation his parents are in they have not given up hope that he may recover, even if he does somehow manage to breathe on his own what sort of life will he have , will he be bed ridden hooked to machines for years ?

    I think the State has to make the decision and go with the Medical Teams decision they can do no more for him he has already gone

  • The problem is it's a state funded hospital. I guess if the family paid for it themselves they could put the kid on life support forever or even cryogenics, especially over in the US. It's terribly sad but the parents are not thinking about the child here. It's their own selfish loss they don't wont. There's no room for love when making decisions like this. Maybe they can take him to a taxidermist and then they can have him in their life forever. I probably sound really heartless and harsh but one should be able to remove emotions when making these decisions hence why the court decided.

    That's exactly why a judge is involved, to take the emotion out of it. But is the judge right?

    How does the judge, anyone, really know, really know.... what brain death is?

  • I agree the Judge has been asked to decide on the medical evidence provided to him by the Consultants, the Judge may not like having to make the call but he or she had no choice but to make a decision.

  • Death is absolute and easier to accept when it's a old person, but a child is unthinkable.

    Feel very sorry for the parents.

  • All the judge can do is take onboard what the medical professionals say but none of us really know including medical professionals when true death is or even if there is a such a thing. I like to think we live in hell and when we 'die' as it's called we then go somewhere better. The medical profession have argued over many years the exact point of where death is called and when you have someone in a vegetative state it makes decisions even harder. It comes down to medical ethics at the end of the day and the judge following medical ethics on the advice of those in that field. It's a not a decision doctors will take lightly and I'm pretty sure they also take into consideration the physical and mental health of the parents too as this is an immense amount of stress and heartache to deal with.

  • I saw this on the news last night and without doubt it is a position that I would never want to find myself in. I fully understand the position of the parents but they need to regain their sense of perspective about how the future could unfold for them.

    It is highly unlikely that the boy will regain any form of consciousness, he could stay like he is currently for years, there are cases around the world of people in this state for decades.

    The boy could make a fully recovery but this would be a miracle similar in likelihood to winning the Euro Millions Lottery every Saturday for a year - basically it isn't going to happen.

    Worst case scenario in my opinion, the bot regains some level of consciousness but is basically a drooling severely brain damaged individual requiring 24/7 care for the rest of his life which could be decades. Would they want that? Either for him? Or themselves?

    They should allow the life support to be withdrawn and let him go peacefully and be joyful for the good times and memories they have of him.

    Celebrate it, Anticipate it, Yesterday's faded, Nothing can change it, Life's what you make it

  • It’s such a difficult decision and you’ve got to really feel for the boy’s family. I can’t even begin to imagine what they’re going through.

    However a decision unfortunately does have to be made by the judge on the basis of the MRI scan and the conclusion is the boy basically has no chance of survival, and even if he miraculously pulled through, we don’t even know what state he could be in. As tough as it is the humane thing here is to withdraw the life support and allow him to pass away peacefully.

  • It’s such a difficult decision and you’ve got to really feel for the boy’s family. I can’t even begin to imagine what they’re going through.

    However a decision unfortunately does have to be made by the judge on the basis of the MRI scan and the conclusion is the boy basically has no chance of survival, and even if he miraculously pulled through, we don’t even know what state he could be in. As tough as it is the humane thing here is to withdraw the life support and allow him to pass away peacefully.

    Agreed

    Celebrate it, Anticipate it, Yesterday's faded, Nothing can change it, Life's what you make it

  • It’s such a difficult decision and you’ve got to really feel for the boy’s family. I can’t even begin to imagine what they’re going through.

    However a decision unfortunately does have to be made by the judge on the basis of the MRI scan and the conclusion is the boy basically has no chance of survival, and even if he miraculously pulled through, we don’t even know what state he could be in. As tough as it is the humane thing here is to withdraw the life support and allow him to pass away peacefully.

    He essentially hung himself in some sick internet game and all oxygen was cut off to his brain at that point, so I don't see a way that he can come back and I think in this case, the doctors did make the right decision.

  • The stupidity is parents who do not supervise their children when on the internet, which appears to be most of them.

  • Parents need to be educated for that and if they where the kids wouldn't even have access to the Internet until they are 18 and most certainly have all social media sites blacklisted at router level.

  • Yes he was found with a Ligature around his neck reported at the time when the tragic story came out , a terrible tragedy

    I agree Heero parents do need to supervise their children better

  • Archie Battersbee: Parents take case to European Court of Human Rights
    The 12-year-old's life support was due to be withdrawn on Wednesday morning.
    www.bbc.co.uk

    This story has been going on and on and on.

    I am afraid my view has hardened compared to when I made the orginal post. I'll say sorry right now, for what I'm about to say.

    The boy is dead. He killed himself playing a "game" that never should've been played, yet this keeps going from court to court to court. I am sure the lawyers are laughing all the way to the bank.

    Before I say what I'm going to say, I will just state that I am distruful of some experts. I was told by a doctor once that my dad was at the end of his life and we should prepare and basically let him die. He lived for another three years. So, I am suspicious by the intentions of some so called experts, but in this case, by all known medical knowledge, the boy is dead. He died months ago.

    I am sure when the parents looked at their son's body in the first few weeks after the incident and saw what a beautiful boy he was (past tense) and no doubt what a handsome man he would've grown into, they have had mixed feelings, especially when they can feel he is warm and breathing. And I would've kept my sympathies for them for a few weeks, to give them time to accept what has happened. But of course he is not breathing, the machine is doing it and very soon his body will start to decompose. The only reason this hasn't happened sooner is because of the machine.

    He is dead, so why won't this stupid, ignorant woman of his mother accept that? I said it.

    I am starting to get really angry about this and it brings together several thoughts I have on such people, like my scum neighbours. There seems to be a whole load of stupid, ignorant people out there now who are so extreme in them being right, no matter what. They're not right. They're wrong. They're stupid and seem to lack any common sense.

    The boy is dead and no amount of court cases will change that. I am beginning to suspect that rather than accept this, the parents and especially the mother, are going through all this circus as a way to absolve themselves of their own responsibility. The responsibility to keep their son safe.

    How did he access the internet? Did he earn his own wages? Of course not. And who supervised him while a 12 year old boy was using the internet? Obviously no one, otherwise he would be alive now. The boy is dead because he had stupid, lazy parents who didn't do the one thing that all parents should do and that is to protect their children.

  • The question is who has the right to decide what hapens next? The State or the family?

    However, and going back to the original question I posed, if the parents want to see the body of their dead son decompose in front of them, that is their right, I believe. The boy was their son and as long as someone is prepared to keep the body attached to the machine, it should be the parents choice about what happens to their son's body. But it's not their son anymore. He's long gone.

  • The boy is brain dead and so all hope is gone.

    What we are all missing here is how much this is all costing the NHS. It should have been possible for the doctors to say that they would be switching off life support unless the parents wanted to pay for longer themselves. They should also have been told to find somewhere he could be taken as he was taking up much needed hospital space.

    We are too soft in this country. No wonder we can’t afford to provide services the public expect. And don’t get me going on the compensation culture, which costs the NHS billions.

  • Not missing it OB and I think this is is about to get even worse.

    The woman is already slaggging off Barts and I suspect someone may have told her (or perhaps she came up with the idea herself) that compensation could be had here.

    She seems to be setting things up now for a lawsuit, or at least that's my reading of this situation.

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