Charlie Gard's parents vow to fight on for ill baby

The parents of terminally ill baby Charlie Gard have vowed to keep fighting for him to receive treatment.
Parents of Charlie Gard, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, speak to the media in Queen Square, London. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA WireParents of Charlie Gard, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, speak to the media in Queen Square, London. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Parents of Charlie Gard, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, speak to the media in Queen Square, London. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Connie Yates and Chris Gard spoke near Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) on Sunday afternoon.

The 11-month-old’s parents have been in a protracted legal battle with hospital doctors, who said the experimental treatment the couple have argued Charlie should receive abroad will not help.

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Calling for her son to be be given the medication, Ms Yates told reporters: “He’s our son, he’s our flesh and blood. We feel that it should be our right as parents to decide to give him a chance at life.”

Charlie Gard. Picture: Family handout/PA WireCharlie Gard. Picture: Family handout/PA Wire
Charlie Gard. Picture: Family handout/PA Wire

She added: “There is nothing to lose, he deserves a chance.”

The couple were speaking after two United States congressmen said they would table legislation to give Charlie and his family US resident status in a bid to allow them to travel there for experimental treatment.

Justice Secretary David Lidington said the Government had “no role to play” in the case.

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Asked if it was right that judges could overrule the wishes of Charlie’s parents, Mr Lidington told Sky News’s Ridge On Sunday: “It is right that judges interpret the law, independently and dispassionately.

Charlie Gard. Picture: Family handout/PA WireCharlie Gard. Picture: Family handout/PA Wire
Charlie Gard. Picture: Family handout/PA Wire

“As ministers and as a Government we have no role to play in the Charlie Gard case, as would be the case in any other proceeding in court.”

He added: “I do not envy the judges who are having to take decisions on this.

“It must be incredibly pressured - probably emotional, under the judicial professionalism, a really emotional, heart-wrenching case for them to have to decide.

“But they are independent, they know their duty is to decide the case on the basis of what they genuinely consider to be in the best interests of Charlie himself.”