The parents of toddler Charlie Gard have decided to withdraw him from life support, but continue to fight in court for one last wish.
Chris Gard and Connie Yates want their son, who has been hospitalised since he was just two months old, to be able to die at home with them.
- Baby Charlie Gard's parents drop legal battle for life
- Trump wants to join Pope in saving baby Charlie Gard
The case of the critically ill boy drew international attention as a battle raged in court for Charlie to be removed from the Great Ormond Street hospital and taken to the US for experimental treatment.
At one point Pope Francis offered to treat the boy at the Vatican, while hospital staff where he was being treated received death threats.
But now his parents have withdrawn from the fight, saying it's too late to help the sick boy, after new scans showed he had suffered irreversible brain damage.
"His body, heart and soul may soon be gone, but his spirit will live on for eternity," Mr Gard said outside court.
On Tuesday (local time), the family returned to London's High Court to ask a judge to let them take their son home.
"The parents' last wish is to take Charlie home for a few days of tranquillity outside the hospital," Grant Armstrong, the family's lawyer, said.
"We struggle with the difficulties which the hospital has placed in the way of the parents' wish to have a period of time probably a relatively short period of time... before the final act in Charlie's short life."
The hospital said Charlie requires intensive care and it would be impractical to provide it to him in his home for several days.
Katie Gollop, the hospital's lawyer, said they're willing to fulfil the parents' wishes if were "practical, possible and safe, and in Charlie's interests so that he comes to no harm".
They offered to let him pass "with dignity" in a hospice instead, so he could still get out of the hospital.
The judge is set to rule on whether Charlie can go home for the last time on Wednesday (local time).
Newshub.
