The Tragic Case of Alfie Evans: Brain-Dead Child Denied Care Despite Plea From Pope Francis

James

Given the fact Dr's are government representatives that are trained & taught to follow Gov rules & guidelines by way of the FDA. The FDA states only a drug can prevent or cure. Most Dd's are skittish about natural remedies or cures not approved or cleared by the FDA. IE: Only a drug can prevent or cure" type laws.... The kid has been suffering at the hands of non-functional medicine. But now that the parents want a 2nd opinion or other treatments? They claim the old standby excuse. Excessive suffering, unstable or set up requirements that force the parents into financial hardship... Also, wonder if the Dr's have fed the child's brain quality oils, clean salts & low sugar diet? Watch this video... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyeC9IiFKpw .

Richard Cornell

I have a problem when I'm ask for the answers to questions about why God does this or why God does that. That I have all the solutions about why people died and why children die so young or why there is so much suffering or why is why not answer. Think about 200 years ago people died from a common scratch on the hand. They died from a host of diseases that are not common today in the USA. Small Pox killed thousands as did Cholera. Yellow Fever did a great job. Polio something that happen ever summer and all the praying and people still got it.
Before 1957 Polio was a common occurrence in the USA. Small Pox was totally wipe out in 1980. Not one in his right mind would drink straight out of a river today with out treating the water first. Most rivers of the world are not safe to drink out of even if you had a Bible in your hand. I was born into an era where science has kept me alive in spite of my health problems. I have bad genes. I like some of my cousins have all gotten bad genes which if science was not there we would have die off decades ago. I can pray to a half a dozen God's and not one of them can keep me alive as well as a couple of small pills. Take them each day and I can sing out my lungs not take them an me goes silence.

Richard Cornell

I like what the Pope said, but since he was not footing the hospital cost then what ever he says means little. Science kept that dead person (child) breathing. If you think that God could or would have started the child breathing on his own to jump up and run around the hospital room to to do everything as a normal child would do then why did it not happen.Did the parents not ring enough bells sing songs or pray hard enough. They did and all I heard is silence. So either God is out for lunch or maybe God does not care one way or the other. Worst no God!

DJ

God bless them. A parent's job is to do the best for their child & they have the right to make decisions. Whether anyone agrees with them or not, is irrelevant.

Minister Grant Nicholls.

This child is already dead. Let it move on to the next phase. Minister G.Nicholls , Australia.

ValdezINC

There is only one Alpha and one Omega. Revelation one, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. "King James Version" Instead of playing god? Be the best medical provider one can be! This alone will change lives, Selah. This is good, love thy neighbor as thy self. That's it, just that simple. Be blessed. Peace to this family Amen.

Rosemarie Ortiz

Doctors absolutely not play GOD!!

corsair red

For those of you who may want to further examine the ethical issues involved in end of life cases. This is by a doctor. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1255938/pdf/bumc0018-0303.pdf

crazy greanya

always someone makes every thing a black or white thing----this is why we still have this problem---their is no color--we are ALL gods people---the problem we have is governments are over stepping--they are all thinking they are god----their is a point to witch one must step aside---and let god do his work we need to get this in our brain---we need god in our harts-in our homes--our schools in our LIFE

mariasdementia

This is so sad. RIP Baby boy.

Father Fred

While there may have been no chance of recover, what gives a medical establishment and government the right to keep a child from dying in his own home, or accepting assistance from another jurisdiction?

Ron

Where did the Pope get his medical training? People with actual medical knowledge had determined there was no chance of recovery. Why would they listen to any lay person regardless of what title they hold. And yes. In regards to medical expertise the Pope is just a lay person.

Rev. HP Lady Fire Star (Laurie G. Cleveland, RN, BSN)

I'm going to give you the perspective that I gained as a home health RN. When I first started in home health, I would do block time nights as my husband worked days so that my daughter would have some semblance of a life with her parents. So, many of the kids I had 2 stood out. The first was a young lady who had literally no skull in spots. She was on a feeding tube, was on a vent and really had no quality of life. The mother told me once that had she known what would happen later, she would have let the child go. The problem with children like this young lady is that while the mum is concentrating on the sick child, her brother, younger than she and her husband and an older child were getting no attention so that the marriage and family felt apart. I felt sorry for the little boy and would often play a board game or something with them. That is until the father, who didn't realize how much anger this boy had, pulled the knife on me and held it up to my neck. I quietly told him that he needed to remove it and that I wasn't the problem. He did and then he gave it to me. I took it and when the dad came home (he was a muscian) I gave him the knife and told him what had happened and strongly suggested that the kid not have it again. The second child was heart wrenching. He had microcephaly, which means small brain. There is a saying with these kids that they are more right than wrong as far as how they act, etc. The nurse who had the 3-11 shift and the ear of the parents said that the kid couldn't tolerate the full strength feeding. I had reported him for having the baby with his head down getting fed via a j-tube (the tube goes through the nose and stomach and into the jejunum which is part of the small intestine. So I would come in at 11 PM and the child would immediately open his eyes and smile at me. Trust me. That kid could eat. He had his own schedule and if the 3-11 nurse would have paid attention more to the child, he would have known this. So, he got fed at 11, 1 or 2 in the AM and the last was generally around 5AM. I was naturally upset at the decision to water down his feedings. In other words, starve the child to death I didn't think that was right. I still don't. I will always speak my mind when I see an injustice and this was one. Yes, they had a normal son. This child was microcephalic because the mother was on anti-seizure medications and didn't realize she was pregnant until after the third trimester and they were practicing Catholics, if my memory serves me correctly, but that is a moot thing. I don't consider myself a Right-To-Lifer and I do believe in treating each case as it comes along, both pros and cons. Nobody can make an Informed Consent until they understand everything and it is a parent's first knee jerk to say "Save my child." At any rate, I was the nurse on duty just before he passed. When I put him down for a second, he would stop breathing, so he spent the entire night atttached so to speak on my bosoms. Around 3 AM, he smiled and me and attempted to play and then closed his eyes and went to sleep again. I literally handed the baby to the nurse coming on for the 7AM shift and told her not to put him down because he would stop breathing. He had been starved down to critical mass, which means once you hit that, death is inevitable. Sort of what happened at the concentration camps in Germany. It was like losing a child because for those 8 hrs. I'm responsible for him while his parents slept. I still get upset about it today because that nurse and those parents were playing God. There are many reasons why these things happen. Sometimes it could be a karma thing. Sometimes, who knows? It's always sadder when the courts have to step in. The difference between the first picture of a healthy child vs. the second picture of a non-healthy child were striking. My daughter lost a baby, Joshua, just before he was born. It was a tragic situation, especially when the doctor whom she saw post-partum said, "I could have saved that child, but I chose not to. He clearly played God. That is unacceptable in my opinion. I can understand the parents wanting to keep their son going, but the truth of the matter is that his soul had already left the body and perhaps the lesson here is that, even if it is difficult, do you keep the child going for your own needs or issues or do you let him go, because its the right thing to do. It's a hard decision for any parent to make, but when the courts have to step in, it makes it even more difficult and they become bitter and angry. In truth, God was being merciful. They didn't have to go through what the first set of parents went through. There is something that I always say. "When the last rays of light are about to be extinguished, love's ray lingers." The other thing that I ask for is healing and that angels wrap their wings around the grieving family members and friends and offer them comfort and solace. Will these parents ever forget this child? No. They have to move on and maybe they'll have other children that are born healthy. But I will say this. Isn't it odd that one minute, the child appears healthy and the next, he is in a coma and brain dead. I would certainly be asking for an autopsy to find out the cause and see if it were something the child inadvertently god a hold of or it was genetic. But I would also be there for them through the entire grieving process which can take years. The biggest problem that could kill that marriage is the blame game, but they should take comfort in that his death was a peaceful one and that they did everything they could for that child. That means they are wonderful parents and people.

Don Wilson

Amen to most comments and " really " to a few others . GOD bless all !

Jlynne

Government doesn't have the right to play God in our lives. This is the result of socialized medicine and citizens becoming subjects of the state.

ActionsAreGreater

If the courts had already decided he was going to die and would never have a life worth living if he did survive, then why prevent the parents from taking their child to somewhere that wants to attempt to treat him? He's already dead in their eyes so it should make no difference whether he dies in the U.K. or dies in Italy. All those judges did was victimize the parents by denying them the right to make medical decisions for their baby. I know if it were me I would forever wonder and be tortured by that knowledge that someone prevented me from helping my baby.

Bill Fox

Free government healthcare has unintended consequences. A parent needs to understand their rights before having children, and if they want control of the child's destiny, they may need to move to another country and foot the bill for having and raising children, rather than relying on the state.

James j

I read a couple of articles about this. The interesting part of this story compared to others I’ve encountered is that the pope himself was willing to take on the responsibility for The child ! Yet the court refused him ! This move by the court is truly a vanity thing for the British. Even if they were right and the child would have died, I believe this was a foolish move by the judge an the court!!

Thomas Lightning Bolt

should they play God? they already do! But in most cases they are actually playing the DEVIL! deliberately poisoning and killing their patients! In fact, they steal my medical care, and give it to the boarder jumpers!

Warren Wall

Just observe the entire situation. This is the result of putting the government, ANY government, in charge of your health care. It doesn't matter what you call it, universal health care, single payer health care, social medicine, it doesn't matter. What matters is that a government agency, ministry, whichever, has the final say on whether you live or die.

Breanah

I hope this baby gets all the care he can get. Let him be on life support! Let him keep trying to live!! If the family is willing to try, let the baby be on life support. The baby isn't showing signs of wanting to be taken off, ie, organ failure.

Ana

I am divided in this issue as I do not know enough of his illness but if there is a slim of a doctor helping him; making his life better then by all means the child should be allow to travel with his parents. I do not understand England with the mingling in people health and things like that. This is like the second or third case of a child being left to die.

Jim Mitchell

Under normal circumstances, my belief is, once a patient is brain dead removing life support is not playing God. Rather, it is putting it into God's hands!

However, this situation is somewhat outside of the norm. Once life support was removed this child continued to breathe on his own. Once the medical staff made the decision to put this child back on life support they should not have denied him the nutrition necessary for his body to try and heal itself.

Additionally, I can find no compassionate reason under the final circumstances for the courts to deny the petition to allow that child to be flown to Italy and examined by other doctors. This act specifically was cruel, unkind, and lacked either love or compassion. And while this child may have been fated to die regardless, it would have eased the parents suffering to know that they had done everything humanly possible to try and save their child.

And lastly, I totally agree with everyone who spoke before me that the life support decision belongs to the family. Not to the doctors, and unless the family is divided the courts should play no role in this decision either! And in this particular case, both parents were in total agreement and neither the courts or the doctors should have been allowed to intervene!

Milly

After becoming a mother recently I understand the love for your child, the bond all of it. I agree with what the doctors done, if poor Alfie was brain dead he deserved to be let go with dignity, which is what happened.

Marguerite Rathbone

Death is NOT the worst thing that can happen to a person. Life support IS artificial and is playing God. Taking him off still allows God to intervene. My Love & Blessings to him & his family and friends. Marguerite RN.

Rev William Dorsch

It should be up to the parents to decide what care is necessary for their children, not any government or court...

Diana Lee McAnsh

This child should have been given every opportunity for life. Help was offered, no one has the right to dictate life or death to parents.

David L Byrd

No human being, not doctors, not judges or anyone else should try to second guess Gods plans and purposes. Whatever time a human life is with us is a time to be cherished.

Tony Clark

Common sense tells us (as well as science) that our brain controls our organs and tells them when to work what to do and if there is something wrong? Now God! Has created our bodies to listen to what it tells us, such as to eat when hungry, that a strike will cause some degree of pain and so on. Thus young boy was placed on life support due to an assumed brain dead state? If that were completely true then why did they stop the feeding and hydration of the child? It would not matter if he was truly brain dead correct!!!! The Dr's played God and used the lack of Knowledge of the courts to minipulate the facts. And because of the courts lack of knowlwdge and experience on the subject they fell to the belief of what Dr's told them. Now I truly believe God showed that this boy under his watchful eye would have sustained further if they(dr's) would have treated him and allowed his young body to heal. Did he have more seziure in the comma? Did his organs shut down when he was hydrated and fed? Did he display signs of deterioration when fed and hydrated? If the answer is no then Humans made this case worse by not taking God's lead. There is only one expert of human life, and they (drs) didnt listen him.

Abdullah

We only see that this is a baby but do we know the pain he gose true everyday his budy has allredy prepeared to meet his maker it wasn,t god who sed death is like a theef in the night no man knows the hour or minet he/she wood pass so to try and sheet death from doing his job is a sin it self the baby wood only sufer the longer he stay on life sopourt

CRAIG

One, doctors give diagnoses and suggest treatments. Parents of children have the ultimate responsibility of making the final decision. And ultimately, they have to make these types of decisions and live with that responsibility. So let's not start judging people because the critics aren't living in their shoes. And from a religious vantage, it's not anyone's job to judge in the first place. That is reserved solely for the divine because people are flawed and as much as they like to follow religious doctrine, they cannot see the bigger picture like the divine.

Now, this particular issue is only an issue because we have the technology to intervene on the body's behalf. Fifty years ago, perhaps more, it would have been a moot point. In these cases the child would have died. Period. So now do we have the right to sustain life at all costs just because we can keep blood pumping to the brain? My answer is no.

One, I believe the soul exists within the body, but the body itself is only a vessel for the soul. In death the soul shrugs off the mortal body and moves on. So, keeping the body alive serves no purpose for the soul beyond a point.

Secondly, if this is a true test of the divine, then remove life support and let the divine intervene. That solves it. Again, people are incapable of seeing the bigger picture. People are creations of the divine--the divine works through its creations. We now have the ability to extend life and quality of life through medical technology, but with that comes a responsibility to know our limits. Just because we can keep a body alive, does that serve the soul?

It's an individual question and it's up to the family. Not the rest of us. We're not big enough to judge it. And the divine has left this decision in individual parents hands because of our inability to solve every medical problem. There is a reason for that. Judge your own self and no one else because you don't have the wisdom to judge everyone else.

Oh Mo

Come, ULC, this is ancient "news". For Goddess' sake, become relevant.

Kathy

My heart goes out to this family, so very sorry but we must remember that the Doctors did not give this child the illness, the Physicians tried to do all that they could for the child. And if it is God will for us to leave our human bodies for a Heavenly peace then we must accept this. I see this in the Job that I do everyday and people hang on to a body that is not really the person. And it is truly sad.

sheryl A clyde

It is hard to justify leaving someone on life support that is brain dead as being God's will because the very act of keeping them alive artificially is not what would happen if he were allowed to live or die on his own. As a EX CNA I have watched elderly people being kept alive artificially and know that they are suffering. To me it is all kinds of cruel to see someone trapped in their body with their minds dying on them, being confused, and in pain. It would be so much more merciful to allow them to pass naturally. I am not advocating medical suicide. I do think that we should allow God to take His children home when it is time and stop keeping them here long after they should have left.

Dr. Geoffrey C. Olive

Cherry picking about whether the doctors’ decision is morally or medically correct is pointless if your God is part of the equation. If you believe in a sky daddy, then it created this sad situation in the first place for its own reasons! Praying obviously didn’t work, so the doctors’ efforts were futile from the start. If you don’t believe in a god, then you must accept that modern medical science has exhausted all possible solutions and nature should be left to take its course. Letting this child remain on a life support machine is a futile and cruel exercise, as is hoping for a miracle from a non-existent god. If the Pope is willing to let Italy try to save him then let it happen, and also face the consequences if it fails. No doubt God will get the credit for success (“It’s a miracle, praise the Lord!”) and the doctors will get the blame for failure. Wait for the usual, “God works in mysterious ways. “‘ “God’s will...”, etc.

Mark Ownby

The doctors have the right to discontinue treatment when they have reached the limits of what they can do, and if the government is paying for the treatments they have some say in when it should stop. My biggest disagreement is the courts not allowing a willing country to try to help.

George Figueroa

I couldn’t imagaine having to decide that for one of my kids... god forbid any of us do. I’m out for now folks, name is George, god bless and have a great day.

Amber

This isn't playing god. This is about knowing the limitations of being a doctor. If there is nothing more they can do and and everything they were doing was not changing or helping, that's it. Taking the child off life support was putting that child entirely in Gods hands. This child wasn't just in a coma, it was brain dead. Coma patients have some brain activity. This child had nothing.

Michelle Corson

The child had a disease that literally turned his BRAIN to water. His death was slow and painful via suffocation. As a mother and one whose lost a child close to me due to this disease, I 100% agree with the doctors.

Rev Adrian

Had the pope prayed directly to God to restore the child to health "ask and you shall receive" etc. Then it would have been proof of a god. Possibly irrefutable. The pope knows why he took the direction he did instead of paying for a miracle from God.

adrian stocks

People saying that by turning off the life support the doctors are playing God have their facts twisted. By keeping on life support they were playing God.Once they turned off the machines it was truly in Gods hands and God let him die. God made the decision to let him die not the doctors, the doctors merely decided to leave the final decision to God. It was Gods will, it was Gods way, why do you question it.

Carl Elfstrom

Truthfulness and honesty are not the same things, but rest assured I am also true to myself, and very introspective. Writing all those personal inventories has helped immensely with that. Otherwise, I'm just not shy or reserved, although there are times when I wish I had been. And that's why I appreciate the good ol' ULC moderating my comments.

Gary Hynous

Hi Carl, Thanks for your message. I too have a dry sense of humor so I'll read and respond to your comments accordingly. I too am a friend of Bill Wilson. Amazing! I do appreciate your honesty. Gary

Carl Elfstrom

Please don't take everything I say seriously. I have a dry, sometimes sarcastic sense of humor, and am quite humorous. It helps to read between the lines.

Carl Elfstrom

This blog is a good replacement for A.A. meetings, and is much more meaningful too. After 34 years of going to meetings you can rest assured I'm telling the truth. Cheers !

Gary Hynous

Hello Carl, I want to clarify something in our recent series of comments on this blog. I am a spiritual person who has an interest in this site because it provides important information and support to people who need help and are looking for spiritual insights. You and I have only a limited knowledge of each other so I don't take offense to your remarks. One thing we do have in common is our desire to become ordained. I'm not sure that you have taken this step yet but if you have I do respect you for that decision. If I angered or offended you in any way with my remark about a head transplant please excuse my botched attempt at humor. Your recovery and healing was a true miracle and for that I'm happy for you. One of the many reasons I am ordained is that for a mere $29. I can be ordained and get a marriage certificate to marry our oldest daughter. When she asked me if I would do this I was thrilled. Good luck with all your future pursuits. Perhaps one day we'll meet and shake hands if this ministry service ever holds a convention. Gary

Carl Elfstrom

My grandmother, Ethel Lorraine Grave Elfstrom was strapped to a bed for years at St.Dominic's Nursing Home in Houston,in the final stages of Alzheimer's disease, totally out of it, without any hope of ever getting better, but the government never once sought to intervene. At least that boy has youth on his side, and maybe before he is old and gray they'll find a cure for him. It only seems impossible before it happens. There is a first time for everything. Never give up hope.

Tom B

Unless there is irrefutable proof of suffering, with no chance of recovery, the courts and government should stay out of the problem...Tom

John Owens

A very sad case, but a very good example of why government should not be involved in health care.

Janice A Ellery

If another country is willing to take him and pay for it,then it should be the parent's decision.

Carl Elfstrom

I spent a week slipping in and out of a fourth level coma caused by a left periorbital contusion more than twenty nine years ago, and my doctors prognosis was very grim. I sure am glad they didn't pull the plug on me. I came out of it on Christmas day with my Christian mother in the room praising the Lord.

Carl Elfstrom

There is such a thing as a head transplant now, I recently read.

JOLENE MARCELLA TRAVIS

Brain dead is brain dead. This boy will never go to school or learn to drive or get married and have a family. He has NO chance of a normal fully functioning life. He really is nothing more than a "Vegetable" . People need to ACCEPT what the TRUTH is.
Wesley I have no idea what you were even trying to say in your post due to extremely poor spelling and grammer.

Hoggdogg

I rember that saw it on tv its sad that a country can make a decion like that that life like that dosent care a i bet if it was their kid they would fly that kid too the best hosptail and they play god shame on them

Gary Hynous

In regard to the young British lad whose life support was discontinued in spite of pleas by his parents to seek medical care elsewhere, I believe that the English courts treated Alfie's parents cruelly and with disregard for their wishes. Even if the poor child died after care was provided elsewhere, at least his parents would have peace of mind knowing that they did everything possible for their son. What I'm about to say may be contrary to your beliefs but it is possible that between lifetimes, Alfie realized that he had chosen the wrong parents for his next lifetime before he transitioned to Nirvana/Heaven. Why would a loving God cause this to happen? Was this free will? Who's will was making these choices. God's? Why would a loving God allow this to happen? Karma perhaps? Perhaps God is also a punishing God. So many questions and so few answers...