Posted on 04/26/2018 11:30:58 AM PDT by ebb tide
Little Alfie was supposed to have died over the span of a few minutes, once the respirator was disconnected. With the medical “comforts” of the case. “Placed with care on the laps of Mr Evans and Ms James, if they desire.” And “after the death has been confirmed, the family will be able to wash him, dress him, and spend time with him.”
This is what was written in the “protocol” for the death of Alfie, conveyed to his parents Tom and Kate by Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.
But this is not what happened. Because even without the oxygen tube, which was removed at 10:17 PM on Monday, April 23, Alfie continued to breathe. On his own. For hours and hours. To the point that the next day the physicians of the hospital - resoundingly discredited by the facts - had to give back his oxygen, water, and food. “A miracle of prayer,” said Francis Cavina, the bishop who on April 18 had gone with Alfie’s father to the pope, for “a little warrior who wants to live.”
That Monday of the fourth week of Easter, many had gone into action to stop those who wanted to put Alfie to death. In Rome, the pediatric hospital of the Bambino Gesù, owned by the Holy See, was ready to welcome and care for him. The Vatican secretariat of state had already been at work for a number of days, at the explicit order of the pope. The government in Rome had given the child Italian citizenship and had activated its own embassy and consulates in the United Kingdom. The president of the Bambino Gesù, Mariella Enoc, had gone in person to Liverpool, while a special airplane was ready to take off from Rome with a medical team on board. Pope Francis himself had once again spoken out in support of Alfie, with a tweet: “I renew my appeal that the suffering of his parents be heard and that their desire to try new treatment possibilities be heeded.”
The next day, Tuesday April 24, given how Alfie’s stupefying vitality was blatantly contradicting those who wanted him dead, the pressure in defense of the child became even stronger. To the point that the English judge who had handled the case from the beginning and the evening before had given the order to have him killed found himself constrained to reconvene the sides for a hearing in Manchester in the afternoon.
Anthony Hayden, the judge, was until two days ago the head of the Family Division of the British high court, in addition to being an LGBT activist and author of the book “Children and Same Sex Families.” His idea has always been that death had to be provided for Alfie in that this coincided with “his best interest.” And this was also the idea of the Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool where the child was in treatment. Against the opposing view of the parents. Very young, she an Anglican and he a Catholic, from working-class families, already repeatedly humiliated by the physicians of the hospital, ignored by the major British media, and now also made the target of disdainful judgments - “deluded,” “fanatical” - at the hearing convened by Judge Hayden.
At the end of the hearing, the judge denied the request from the attorneys of Tom Evans to authorize Alfie’s immediate departure for Rome. But he issued an order to Alder Hey Children's Hospital to decide if and how to release the child - now a citizen of both the United Kingdom and Italy - with the consequent, hypothetical ability for the parents to take him where they think appropriate.
The hospital, however, has also closed off this outlet. It has refused to free Alfie before “three to five days of extensive discussions,” with an outcome that promises to be negative. A refusal that Mariella Enoc, president of the Bambino Gesù in Rome, was expecting, after the directors of the Alder Hey Children's Hospital had not even wanted to meet with her when she went to Liverpool, and after seeing in action, during her visit to that hospital, “too much activity not helpful for the child.” “They have deceived the family,” is her judgment today. “They have taken an adverse position. And I believe that this is the result of an ideological battle.”
This is also the judgment of Professor Fr. Roberto Colombo, a geneticist on the faculty of medicine and surgery at the Catholic University of Rome and an ordinary member of the pontifical academy for life:
“As before with little Charlie Gard, with little Alfie as well one is in the presence of ‘accanimento tanatologico’ [‘thanatological doggedness,’] or an obstinacy that is ideological and devoid of reasonable clinical and ethical foundations in bringing to an end the existence of the child. The English call ‘accanimento terapeutico’ by the term ‘therapeutic obstinacy,’ but in this case one could speak of ‘anti-therapeutic obstinacy.’ This is the contrary of authentic palliative care, which provides for the treatment of the incurable patient until the last moment of his life, without procuring his death ahead of time with omissive euthanasia. Medicine needs to be set free from a deadly ideology that denies at the root its vocation to the service of life.”
At the Vatican and in the Catholic hierarchy, however, the voices are not unanimous. Pope Francis has spoken out in clear words in defense of Alfie’s life, especially after the audience granted to his father on the morning of Wednesday, April 18. But his protege Vincenzo Paglia, president of the pontifical academy for life - already the author last March 9 of an interview in which he completely agreed with Judge Hayden - issued on Sunday April 22, at the height of the struggle between the child’s parents and the British judicial and medical institutions, a highly ambiguous statement in which the search for consensus, whatever may be the solution adopted, is made to prevail over the truth and justice of the solution itself:
"Considering all the difficulties and possible solutions being considered as circumstances progress, we believe it is very important that everyone work together in the most collaborative way possible. Only by seeking agreement between all parties – a loving alliance of parents, relatives, and medical team – will it be possible to reach the best solution for helping baby Alfie in this dramatic moment of his life."
Not to mention the holing up of the archdiocese of Liverpool, and - something even more serious - the Pilatesque statement of April 18 from the episcopal conference of England and Wales, headed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, which simultaneously agrees with everyone and no one:
"We affirm our conviction that all those who are and have been taking the agonising decisions regarding the care of Alfie Evans act with integrity and for Alfie’s good as they see it."
On Tuesday, April 25, Alfie’s parents presented yet another appeal, this time against the ban issued the day before by Judge Hayden against transferring the child to another hospital. The hearing took place in London, in the afternoon, in front of three judges presided over by the new head of the Family Division of the high court of England and Wales, Andrew McFarland.
In the evening, the court rejected both the appeal of Tom Evans against the ban on transferring Alfie to Italy and the appeal of Kate James for the freedom of movement guaranteed by the European convention on human rights, and confirmed that Alder Hey Children's Hospital can proceed according to what was decided in the previous rulings:
> L'alleanza tra giudici e medici per far morire Alfie
Meanwhile, “little warrior” Alfie is breathing, he is alive. He has been baptized and anointed. His life and his future, Pope Francis has said, are in the hands of God, not of those who want to replace him. It is the Easter season, and for this child the tomb is empty. Like that of Jesus.
(English translation by Matthew Sherry, Ballwin, Missouri, U.S.A.)
I’ve been a UK fan since childhood.
But this...not the witholding of medical care (that’s standard for socialists and democrats (but I repeat myself)...but the fact that the UK feared by Orwell did not allow the family to take their child to a country offering perhaps better medical care. For free.
The UK deserves its Britainistan future. Hey Brits, have fun getting your castle stormed.
By the most repulsive religion in the multiverse.
this is an old case- but very similar to the alfie case- only this man was fully conscious and begging for his life while the hospital refused to continue treatment- watch the video- it’s absolutely heartbreaking and unbelievable that this happened here in the US
“Think it can’t happen in the US? Texas hospital ends life support of fully-conscious patient”
Thank you so much for continuing to cover this tragic but important story!
There are some soulless folks out there.
I am sure many people in this country have died directly or indirectly vis-a-vis this mentality as RINOs in the government always went along to get along. (see Vietnam, War on Drugs, Arkancides, etc.) There is evil in this world that does not compromise, making the converse act of attempted compromise deadly for innocents. Hopefully this cute little boys parents will be able to get him out of Britain and be happy in Italy!
Shameful and scary.
They have a protocol for his death, while they’re in the middle of murdering him.
Well that’s thoughtful.
A society that kills children in the womb does not shy away from murdering them after they are born.
Wow.
That's given me something to think about.
Three days of intense talk...
Run out the clock till the kid dies, and it’s all moot,
and no longer matters.
One day, they’ll do the same for all of us, when our
useful productivity is over, and we’re a burden on
the Chancellor Of The Exchequer.
Run out the clock...
The Brits have forgotten Ghandi’s salt walk against them. The serfs in England need to understand what is required to shame the monarchy into obedience to God’s law. They need to peacefully march on the hospital with the goal of freeing Alfie from his henchmen. They may be beaten, killed, and imprisoned. Their witness to the brutality of British rule will gain them their dignity and, ultimately, control of their government.
How about a Pope with teeth.
“Either you let this child come to Rome, or we are excommunicating you and putting the Hospital under the Interdict.”
I know...it’s a fantasy. But a darn fun one. :)
Aye, there's the rub.
These judges and doctors face a terrible judgment for their wickedness.
There isn’t one in the bunch?
At Alder Hey? Or are we also throwing in the whole friggin British Judiciary? I don’t know. A very small percentage even excommunicatable, I bet. I’m reckoning 1st secular/agnostic/nothing, 2nd Muslim, 3rd CofE, and last by a league, RC at under 10%. Just my guess, no more.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.