Hospital Treating Charlie Gard Receives Death Threats

Hospital Treating Charlie Gard Receives Death Threats
Connie Yates (R) and Chris Gard, parents of terminally-ill 10-month-old Charlie Gard, arrive at the High Court in central London on July 10, 2017. (BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)
Jack Phillips
7/23/2017
Updated:
7/23/2017

The U.K. hospital treating ill toddler Charlie Gard—who suffers from a rare genetic disorder and is the center of a highly publicized legal battle—has been receiving death threats.

“The GOSH community has been subjected to a shocking and disgraceful tide of hostility and disturbance,” Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) Chairman Mary MacLeod stated on Saturday.

Connie Yates and Chris Gard, pose for photographers as supporters hold a banner before delivering a petition to Great Ormond Street Hospital in central London on July 9, 2017. (REUTERS/Peter Nicholls)
Connie Yates and Chris Gard, pose for photographers as supporters hold a banner before delivering a petition to Great Ormond Street Hospital in central London on July 9, 2017. (REUTERS/Peter Nicholls)

The child, born in August of last year, has a rare genetic condition known as a mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome. A ruling was made that the hospital could legally withdraw all treatment except for palliative care, going against what his parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, wanted. They’ve been campaigning to keep the child alive on life support.

The child has now become the center of an international battle over whether the hospital should support experimental treatment methods to extend his life. The European Court of Human Rights in June gave the hospital permission to discontinue life support.

People gather in support of continued medical treatment for critically-ill 10-month old Charlie Gard in London on July 6, 2017. (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images)
People gather in support of continued medical treatment for critically-ill 10-month old Charlie Gard in London on July 6, 2017. (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images)

In a statement on Saturday, MacLeod added that “staff have received abuse both in the street and online. Thousands of abusive messages have been sent to doctors and nurses whose life’s work is to care for sick children.”

“Many of these messages are menacing, including death threats. Families have been harassed and discomforted while visiting their children, and we have received complaints of unacceptable behaviour even within the hospital itself,” she said.

Meanwhile, Charlie’s parents say they’ve also been victims of “backlash” after the hospital received the threats, including “the most hurtful comments from the public,” the BBC reported.

A campaigner holds a banner to show support for allowing Charlie Gard to travel to the United States to receive further treatment, outside the High Court in London, Britain, July 10, 2017. (REUTERS/Neil Hall)
A campaigner holds a banner to show support for allowing Charlie Gard to travel to the United States to receive further treatment, outside the High Court in London, Britain, July 10, 2017. (REUTERS/Neil Hall)

Gard said, “Without the excellent care of the doctors at GOSH [Great Ormond Street Hospital] our son would not even be alive and not a day goes by when we don’t remember that.” Yates said, “We do not, and have not ever, condoned any threatening or abusive remarks towards any staff member at GOSH.”

The parents want to take the child to New York for an experimental type of treatment, which has a chance of improving his health.

The case will be sent back to the High Court on Monday.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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