Charlie Gard's Grieving Parents Now Fighting for Right to Bring Dying Baby Home

After months of disappointing court rulings, the parents of 11-month-old Charlie Gard dropped their legal challenge to send their son to the United States for treatment, reluctantly acknowledging time had run out.

Tuesday they petitioned the court for the right to take their son home to die. But the hospital where the child is now has raised concerns, saying there are many practical issues to be resolved and that home care would be difficult.

The judge in the case says he'll rule Wednesday on whether the parents have any right to bring their dying child home.

"We're about to do the hardest thing that we'll ever have to do," said Chris Gard, Charlie's father Monday, reading a prepared statement to reporters. He then announced that he and his wife, Connie Yates, were letting "our beautiful little Charlie go."

The parents disagreed with Charlie's doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. They believed an experimental treatment could help their son.

The family's attorney, Grant Armstrong, summed up their frustration about the impact of the run hospital's legal battle against little Charlie.

"It's too late for Charlie. The damage has been done," he said. "Due to the delay in treatment, that window of opportunity has been lost."

Charlie was born with a rare genetic disease called mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome. It produces progressive muscle deterioration, brain damage, and organ failure and required a ventilator for Charlie to breathe.

The hospital advocated to remove his life support, arguing the treatment would not help and would subject the infant to pain.

The case garnered international attention with the White House and Vatican weighing in with offers to help.

In court on Monday, Charlie's parents acknowledged recent medical reports factored into their decision to end their legal battle.

"There is one simple reason why treatment cannot now go ahead, and that is time." Gard explained. "A whole lot of time has been wasted."

"We are now in July, and our poor boy has been left to just lie in hospital for months without any treatment while these lengthy court battles had been fought," he continued. "Tragically...we now know had Charlie been given the treatment sooner, he would have had the potential to be a normal, healthy little boy."
 
The Associated Press quoted the couple's attorney who described Charlie's parents as distressed and said they "wish to spend the maximum amount of time they have left with Charlie."

"As Charlie's devoted and loving parents, we have decided that it's no longer in Charlie's best interests to pursue treatment, and we will let our son go and be with the angels," said the tearful father.

The decision reverberated beyond the United Kingdom.

Art Estopinan, of Baltimore, had been tracking the case because of a personal connection. His son, Arturito, 6, has a similar but less rare condition called TK2 mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome.

When Connie Yates learned of Arturito's successful treatment with nucleoside bypass therapy, she contacted the boy's father who then introduced Charlie's parents to Dr. Michio Hirano, a Columbia University neurologist.

Estopinan was devastated upon learning the choice Charlie's parents had made.

"I see Charlie Gard in my son," he said. "As a father, I'm convinced if the doctors here in the United States and the other international doctors believed that they could have helped Charlie -- they're the doctors, they're the experts -- I believe it would have helped him as well."

He also attempted to console his British counterparts.

"Connie and I have been in touch, and I told her that they were great parents and that Charlie would be proud of them," Estopinan added.

Pro-life advocates closely monitored Charlie's plight to highlight their cause.

"After over 8 months of exhaustively battling for the right to care for their son, Chris Gard and Connie Yates made a brave choice to do what was best for their little Charlie and end the legal fight to seek cutting-edge treatment," said Catherine Glenn Foster, president of Americans United for Life.

"We must remember that if Charlie had been allowed to receive treatment back in November 2016, when his parents originally requested it, there would have been a good chance that Charlie could have substantially recovered and lived a full and complete life," she continued. "Instead, the hospital and the courts denied Charlie and his parents that chance, leaving their hands tied and a gut-wrenching decision to be made today."

Estopinan told CBN News even though the legal challenge is over, Charlie's case shines light on many issues that have yet to be resolved.

"Charlie Gard's legacy will live forever. And we pray and we hope that the British people will start asking questions: What happened here? Who's responsible? Who are the doctors? Who are the administrators that let this tragedy happen?"