Charlie Gard’s desperate parents plead with the Court of Appeal ‘don’t take away our only remaining hope’ as judges decide youngster’s fate

A DESPERATE couple seeking to take their sick baby boy abroad for potentially life saving treatment have asked three Court of Appeal judges not to take away the "only remaining hope".

Chris Gard and Connie Yates want permission to take son Charlie to America for a therapy trial.

Last month, a High Court judge ruled that doctors in Britain could stop providing life-support treatment.

Charlie's parents hope that the three appeal judges will overturn Mr Justice Francis's decision.

Lord Justice McFarlane, Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Sales are analysing evidence at a Court of Appeal hearing in London.

Richard Gordon QC, who led Charlie's parents' legal team, told the three appeal judges that the case raised "very serious legal issues".

"They wish to exhaust all possible options," Mr Gordon said in a written outline of Charlie's parents' case.

"They don't want to look back and think 'what if?'.

"This court should not stand in the way of their only remaining hope."

Last month the parents lost their previous court battle to keep their eight-month-old alive.

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The couple, of Bedfont, west London, who have raised more than £1.2million to take the youngster to the US for pioneering treatment that could extend his life.

But judges at the High Court went against their wishes – instead ruling his life support machine can be turned off.

A family friend told the Daily Mail: “They will fight to the bitter end, they won’t give up. They love that little boy and while there’s still some hope they will carry on.”

The couple said they were “devastated” by the decision and were struggling to understand why the judge didn’t give him the “chance of treatment”.

Great Ormond Street Hospital bosses say doctors will continue to provide life-support treatment until appeal decisions have been made.

‘SITUATION IS ALSO HARD FOR MEDICS’, WRITES SUN DOCTOR CAROL COOPER

IT’S no surprise that the parents want to try everything possible to save their son.

Understandably, a mum and a dad will cling to almost any hope that could, however remote the chance, bring a reprieve to such a serious condition.

It’s a testing decision for doctors too.

The sad fact is that nobody can predict the future. But it seems fairly certain that Charlie has irreversible brain damage.

That means any attempt to prolong his life can only bring more suffering.

In tough situations like this one, I think it’s right to involve the courts to settle on the right course of action.

As hard as it is to accept, we still live in a world where not every baby survives.

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