Isaiah Haastrup: Parents make appeal to European Court
The parents of a brain-damaged baby say they have asked European judges to intervene after losing life-support treatment court battles in the UK.
Three High Court judges dismissed Lanre Haastrup and Takesha Thomas's attempt to overturn a ruling allowing doctors to only give 12-month-old Isaiah Haastrup palliative care. Experts said further treatment was "futile" and "burdensome". Isaiah's parents say they have written to the European Court of Human Rights. A spokesman for King's College Hospital in London said medics would continue treating Isaiah until any decision was made to the contrary by European judges. The baby suffered "catastrophic" brain damage due to being deprived of oxygen at birth, an earlier hearing was told. Doctors said Isaiah was in a low level of consciousness, could not move or breathe independently and was connected to a ventilator. They also said he did not respond to stimulation. Mr Haastrup and Miss Thomas, who are both in their 30s and from Peckham, south-east London, say they have spelled out their case in a written application to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. They said a treatment "known as hyperbaric therapy" exists that could help his son. Related Internet Links King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust