On Wednesday evening, Judge Hayden once again rejected the parents’ appeal and turned down the offer from the hospital in Rome to treat the sick toddler. “Alfie is dying”, he said, confidently. However, Alfie has been breathing independently since Monday evening (only with oxygen) despite the announcement from medical staff that he would die within minutes once the life support system was withdrawn.
Tom Evans, Alfie’s father, explained that his son “is still fighting and seems calm and happy with a regular heart beat”. “I sit beside Alfie’s bed, every second of every day. He isn’t suffering and doesn’t feel pain and I find that even more encouraging. I hope he will live for several months, perhaps years”. “Alfie is alive, comfortable and happy (…) without any form of ventilation.” Tom Evans claims that the hospital has made mistakes: “Some say it’s a miracle, but it isn’t a miracle – it was an incorrect diagnosis”. “He isn’t showing any signs of suffering and he doesn’t need any assistance whatsoever.”
The parents are now asking to take their son home. They hope this request will be granted “in a day or two”, believing that any further appeal would be futile. “He hasn’t been on a ventilator for three days and his condition hasn’t deteriorated. He hasn’t woken up and he’s still a bit weak, but we want to take him home to tend to his needs.” They have asked for a calm, positive meeting with the hospital teams to organise their son’s return home. But the father warned that, “If the meeting doesn’t go according to plan, we won’t hesitate to go back to court.”
Chair of the Hospital Board, Sir David Henshaw, and Chief Executive, Louise Shepherd, have witnessed “a significant police presence” around the hospital. Today, Merseyside Police even issued a press release “warning severe repercussions” for anyone daring to “attract international attention” to the Alfie Evans case via social networks. “Many messages on social media networks have fuelled concerns. (…) I would like to inform people that these messages are being monitored and remind social network users that any offences, including malicious communications and threatening behaviour, will be investigated and, where necessary, will be acted upon”, warned Chief Inspector Chris Gibson.
For his part, Tom Evans threatened to sue three doctors at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital for conspiring to kill his son and declared that he has already contacted private investigators to examine the case.
Il Messaggero (26/04/2018)
Liverpool Echo, Steve Graves (25/04/2018)
Daily Mail (26/04/2018)