'GIVE HIM THAT CHANCE'
Parents of boy with similar condition to Charlie Gard urge doctors to let him travel to the US after their son moves his eyes for the first time in four years
THE parents of a five-year-old boy who suffers from a similar condition to Charlie Gard have today pleaded with medics to give the tot the same chance as their son.
Maxwell Smith – who was nine months old when doctors discovered he was suffering from mitochondrial disease – recently started moving his eyes for the first time in four years.
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His parents Peter and Emma say they became experts in their son’s condition and, like Charlie’s family, “found every scrap of paperwork and every bit of information" to help Maxwell.
Maxwell – whose condition is not exactly the same as Charlie’s - has his medication shipped to the UK.
Speaking on This Morning Emma told Holly and Phil: “He (Charlie) should absolutely be given the opportunity to go to America because unless he has that opportunity to try the medication who knows?
“I just think we do not know if it's going to work. It might work for him or it might not work for him - but just give him that opportunity."
An emotional Peter told the show how Maxwell had recently been able to move his eyes.
Fighting back tears he said: “If he does have the treatment imagine the information you will get for the next few months for this treatment that’s working really well for my son."
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Peter added: “My son has not moved his eyes for three and a half, four years and he started maybe three, four weeks ago.
“I am holding my hands up, I say my prayers over my son every night and I am thankful that he is on that medication.
“I think as a parent you strive to do the best you can for your children. If you make them you look after them. You don’t have to do anymore than that."
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Charlie’s defiant parents yesterday delivered a a 350,000 signature petition to Great Ormond Street Hospital ahead of a High Court hearing at 2pm today into new information on the tragic case.
They said there was nothing to lose in giving little Charlie one last chance of life – and hailed the nucleoside bypass therapy as a potential miracle cure for the youngster’s rare brain condition.
The petition called for the family to be allowed to travel to receive the experimental treatment, something currently blocked by a High Court ruling.
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