YP Comment: Brave parents end legal battle

Few recent stories have been as heart-rending as that of 11-month-old Charlie Gard and the sight of his parents '“ Chris Gard and Connie Yates '“ standing on the steps outside the High Court as Mr Gard, choking back tears, read out a statement explaining why they have ended their legal fight over treatment for their terminally ill baby son, was deeply moving.

It’s a story that has divided public opinion and is mired in controversy. Charlie suffers from a rare inherited disease – infantile onset encephalomyopathy mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome (MDDS) – and doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), where Charlie has been treated since October, have argued that his quality of life won’t improve.

However, his parents wanted him to be given an experimental treatment in the United States. They lost battles in the High Court and Court of Appeal and failed to persuade European Court of Human Rights judges to intervene.

It is difficult to imagine their pain but there is another troubling aspect to this deeply distressing case and that is the level of vitriol and abuse aimed at hospital staff where Charlie is being treated.

Our doctors and nurses are among the best, and most caring, in the world and for them to be bombarded with death threats is disgraceful. Such behaviour does nothing to help his distraught parents who now face the anguish of saying goodbye to their little boy before his first birthday.

They must be allowed to grieve and Charlie, whose tragically short life has been played out in the spotlight, must be allowed to die with dignity surrounded by the love of his family.