Charlie Gard’s fresh lifeline as US hospital offers to send experimental drug to Great Ormond Street and confirm they will take him if ‘legal obstacles’ are cleared
THERE is fresh hope for Charlie Gard after a New York hospital offered to ship an experimental drug to the UK to treat him.
The facility, which cannot be named for legal reasons, also confirmed they would admit the desperately ill boy in the US if "legal hurdles" can be overcome.
Hours after Pope Francis declared he wants to give baby Charlie Gard a Vatican passport to move him to Italy for treatment, the US hospital made their two lifeline offers of help.
The hospital's statement on Thursday is the latest in a series of attempted interventions after offers of help came from US President Donald Trump.
The US hospital said that it would treat the boy with an experimental drug pending approval from government regulators, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - it is not certain if this drug would be approved for use in the UK.
It said it has "agreed to admit and evaluate Charlie, provided that arrangements are made to safely transfer him to our facility, legal hurdles are cleared, and we receive emergency approval from the FDA for an experimental treatment as appropriate".
It added: "Alternatively, if approved by the FDA, we will arrange shipment of the experimental drug to Great Ormond Street Hospital and advise their medical staff on administering it if they are willing to do so."
The battle for Charlie’s life went global after judges last week ruled that his life support should be switched off.
Yesterday it was reported the court rulings preventing the terminally-ill boy from travelling may be “overcome” if the 10-month-old becomes a citizen of Vatican City, sources suggest.
One highly placed in the independent sovereign state said: “It would be unprecedented if citizenship was granted to Charlie, but it is being investigated.
“Legal parameters are preventing him from being moved and treated overseas. If that can be overcome, then so be it.
“It is well known the Pope has taken a personal interest in Charlie. He has commented on the case publicly twice.”
Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, added: “We are doing whatever we can.”
The Pope’s hospital, Bambino Gesu, has offered to treat Charlie — and sources said it planned a major announcement.
Doctors at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital have said Charlie, who has a rare genetic condition, should be allowed to “die with dignity”.
Charlie Gard's condition and his story so far
Charlie Gard is in the “terminal stages” of a disease called mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, after both of his parents were unknowingly carrying the faulty gene.
Sufferers of the condition do not get energy to their muscles, kidneys and brain, and is typically fatal in infancy and early childhood.
The 10-month-old is said to be one of only 16 people to have ever had the condition and his desperate mum and dad have been unable to find a treatment in the UK for him.
They raised £1.3million to send him America for treatment but doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital said Charlie should be allowed to die in dignity and applied for permission to have his ventilator switched off.
The European Court of Human Rights’ ruled the doctors' decision would be upheld and his parents were not allowed to intervene in their child’s case.
The family were given extra time to say goodbye before his life support is turned off.
Now US President Donald Trump and the Pope have offered to help as "Charlie's Army" vocalised their support for him all over the world.
British doctors say their "hands are tied" and they are unable to let the tot fly to Italy, so the Italian foreign minister called for crisis talks with Boris Johnson - who backed the doctors' and courts' decision.
Theresa May also confirmed she supports Great Ormond Street’s decision not to let Charlie fly.
She was set to speak with Trump about the child's fate at the G20 summit in Hamburg, as his followers continue their support.
The Pope declared on July 6 he wanted to give the youngster a Vatican passport to help him travel to an Italian hospital for treatment, before a New York Hospital offered to admit him - and even ship experimental drugs to the UK.
His parents Chris, 32, and Connie, 31, want to take him to the US for life-saving treatment but judges ruled it could cause him more distress.
Last night the couple released a photo of them in the hospital’s St Christopher’s Chapel — where they retreat when things “simply get too much to bear”.
She said: “We can only hope that various meetings they’ve been having, to which we have not been invited, are positive.”
A family spokesman added: “On rare occasions when Connie and Chris are invited in to talk they feel ambushed.
"They are called in at very short notice, leaving no time to get a lawyer.
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“The way they are continually treated as if their views don’t matter is heaping stress on them at a time when naturally they are already very distressed.”
Yesterday 40 MEPs wrote an open letter expressing their “full support” for Charlie.
Theresa May was thought to be preparing for a showdown with Donald Trump over Charlie Gard's fate when the leaders meet today.
The pair will meet at the G20 summit in Hamburg, British officials confirmed, after Trump tweeted that the US would be "delighted" to help little Charlie.
Earlier this week Boris Johnson and Mrs May came out to back Great Ormond Street Hospital in the debate.
But the PM stressed they would not ignore any offers of help.
When asked by MP Seema Malthora at PMQs whether there was “any room for discretion within the court rulings” for GOSH to allow Charlie to leave, the PM said: “I am confident that GOSH have and always will consider any offers of new information that has come forward for the wellbeing of a desperately ill child.”
She added: “It’s an unimaginable position to be in. I fully understand and appreciate that any parent in this circumstances would want to do everything possible and explore every option for their seriously ill child.
“But I know no doctor wants to be in the terrible position where they have to make such heartbreaking decisions.”
Charlie’s “army” have been posting supportive messages on Facebook and Twitter at a rate of once every second.
The desperately ill 10-month-old has gained fans from all over the world who are fighting for him to stay alive – through social media – as the international row rages on.
In America, a tweet and Facebook and post has reportedly been posted about Charlie every second.
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