The four-year-old was born with severe brain abnormalities had his life support removed earlier this year. He was expected to die soon after, but is now breathing for himself
A four-year-old boy who was expected to die when his life support was removed has “confounded” medical expectations – and now enjoys trips to the park.
The child, named only as NR in court records, was born with severe brain abnormalities and multiple disabilities. He was taken off a ventilator in April after the High Court ruled that maintaining the treatment was not in his best interest in a case lodged by King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Having suffered a marked deteriorations in his health including multiple incidents of infection and septic shock, as well as two cardiac arrests on the same day last October, the court heard in January that he was “suffering many more burdens” and there existed “little to no evidence that he could derive pleasure from life, other than the consoling touch of his parents”.
But a new ruling this month has revealed the “remarkable” changes in his condition over the past five months – and showed that he has “not only survived but has made progress”. He is now even breathing for himself, and judge Mr Justice Poole told how the boy can now “be taken outside, for example to the park”. The judge added: “The expectations that NR could not be cared for at home and would not survive long after extubation have not been fulfilled.
“I do not wish to minimise the emotional turmoil suffered by Mr and Mrs R and the continuing burdens that NR suffers because of his conditions, but it seems to me to be a wonderful surprise that NR has confounded expectations, that he no longer requires continuing invasive interventions and, in particular, that he has been able to return home to the loving care of his devoted parents.”
Mr Justice Poole added that it was a “delight” to see photographs of NR living at home with his “devoted” parents. Following the new ruling, a number of medical declarations which would have allowed doctors to withhold resucitation or not provide certain treatments have been removed.
The boy’s mum told the High Court in a statement her son had showed a “strong” will to live and enjoys a good life. She said: “NR survived when the doctors and nurses who looked after him for months thought he could not… NR has earned a new start and he deserves it.”
