Chris Gard and Connie Yates, the parents of terminally ill British baby Charlie Gard, are ending their legal fight over the treatment of their 11-month-old son.
On Monday, a lawyer representing the couple, Grant Armstrong, explained that “time had run out” for Charlie, as a doctor from the U.S. concluded that it would be too late to give him nucleoside therapy.
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“Poor Charlie. It is too late. The damage has been done. Sadly time has run out,” Armstrong said, according to PEOPLE. “Sadly the window of opportunity no longer exists. The parents have taken an extremely hard decision.”
Charlie was born on August 4, 2016, and was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called mitochondrial depletion syndrome. The syndrome causes progressive muscle weakness and brain damage.
“Charlie has suffered extensive muscular atrophy,” Armstrong said in court. “This is irreversible even with [nucleoside therapy]. Chance of improvement can’t now be delivered.”
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Currently, Charlie is on life support and is unable to eat, breathe, or move his limbs without assistance.
Chris and Connie were hoping to be able to take Charlie to the U.S. to receive nucleoside therapy treatment. However, the Family Division of Britain’s High Court ruled back in April that the therapy would not have increased Charlie’s chances of survival, and therefore rejected the family’s petition to travel for therapy.
Chris delivered an emotional statement about the decision to end the legal battle outside the courthouse on Monday.
“We will have to live with the ‘what-ifs,’ which will haunt us for the rest of our lives. Despite the way our beautiful son has been spoken about sometimes — as if he is not worthy at a chance at life — our son is an absolute warrior and we could not be prouder of him and we will miss him terribly.
“His body, heart, and soul may soon be gone, but his spirit will live on for eternity and he will make a difference in people’s lives for years to come — we will make sure of that. We are now going to spend our last previous moments with our son Charlie, who unfortunately won’t make his first birthday in just under two weeks time.
“To Charlie, we say, Mommy and Daddy love you so much. We always have and we always will, and we are so sorry we couldn’t save you. Sweet dreams, baby. Sleep tight our beautiful little boy. We love you,” he said.
Katie Gollop, the lawyer representing Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) said the hearts of each person at the hospital “go out to Charlie, his mother, and father.”
