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Parents fight for their daughter's 'right to life'

The parents of a critically ill baby have been given permission for their High Court battle for her right to treatment to be heard in public.

11 month old Charlotte Wyatt weighed only one pound and was five inches long when she was born three months premature at 26 weeks gestation. She has never left hospital and doctors say she will not survive beyond infancy because her lungs are so severely damaged.

But her parents, Darren, 32, and Debbie, 23, believe that, as she has survived this far, Charlotte must be given every assistance to help her live.

Charlotte is on constant oxygen and is fed through a tube in her nose because she cannot suck. David Lock, counsel for the hospital, part of the Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, said a doctor had said she was 'living in a plastic box' and that her life would be 'dominated by pain and suffering'.

She has already been resuscitated five times and has been left with terrible scarring on her lungs following this. She is being treated by a specialist in paediatric respiratory medicine who, like the other treating doctors and witnesses, cannot be named for fear of recriminations from pro-life activists. The doctor has told the Court that Charlotte was suffering from "the worst case of chronic lung disease I have ever seen."

The treating doctors believe her quality of life will be terrible and want to allow her to die if she stops breathing again.

David Lock summarised the Trust Consultants' findings by saying "They are of the view that Charlotte has life-limiting conditions and that, despite their best efforts, she has no feelings other than continuing pain.

"Her quality of life is both terrible and permanent and they cannot see a way in which it would significantly improve."

He added that one doctor had described her as "permanently sedated, living in a plastic box with a tube up her nose and blasted with gas" and that a Consultant Paediatric neurologist had said Charlotte "has no visual awareness and does not respond to sound... she does not respond to being cuddled and demonstrates no awareness of familiar persons."

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust says that while parents can decide what treatment is given to their child, they cannot insist on inappropriate treatment which would bring more suffering than benefits.

However, Mr and Mrs Wyatt want the Court to 'hang on' to any real hope for Charlotte and said they would like to look forward to taking their daughter out 'so that she can have the feel of fresh air on her skin'.

Cases like this are rare and usually only heard in private but the judge and Trust managers agreed the case should be discussed openly so that it could reassure the public about the treatment it offered and the decisions it made.

Speaking to The Times newspaper, Mrs Wyatt said, "It has all been very difficult for us. I just hope the judge makes the right decision. We want to cling to any chance we have."

The case continues.

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