Hospital given permission not to resuscitate brain-damaged boy
A hospital has been given permission by the High Court not to resuscitate a severely disabled six-year-old should his condition deteriorate.
The child, who is a ward of court, was left with irreversible brain damage after a near drowning incident before his second birthday.
High Court President Nicholas Kearns called this a tragic case in which a once energetic bright child was left severely brain damaged from a near drowning incident.
The six-year-old boy is completely dependent and has been in and out of the emergency ward in recent times.
The hospital came to court for a direction as to whether he should not be resuscitated in the event of an acute deterioration.
The judge noted the boy has no prospect of recovery, that the medical evidence is unanimous and that his reventilation would merely prolong his suffering without any long-term benefit.
President Kearns rejected the boy's father's suggestion of stem cell treatment in Mexico or the Dominican Republic as being of no real benefit, but he said the parents had demonstrated to the highest degree their great love and affection for their child.
