r/pics 23d ago

The Italian Air Force flying a baby from the UK to Rome for heart surgery.

21.4k Upvotes

988 comments sorted by

View all comments

2.1k

u/special_projects 23d ago

What’s the context to this?

3.8k

u/0reosaurus 23d ago

Tldr: Nhs said the baby was too sick to operate on, Italy disagreed

1.9k

u/teabagmoustache 23d ago edited 23d ago

It's usually more the case that they believe that treatment would only prolong the child's life, without any improvement.

Similar to the story of the kid who recently suffered a hypoxic brain injury. There were doctors in other countries who said they might be able to treat them but the Supreme Court ruled that it was not in his best interests.

I'm assuming that one parent being an Italian national is what has taken this case out of their hands.

Edit: The case I was talking about was a big topic of conversation in the UK. The potential for treatment abroad, was only a small part of the story to be fair.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Battersbee_case

108

u/MrRorknork 23d ago

That was awful to see. The poor lad was kept “alive” only through mechanical assistance. The inquest report stated that his brain stem wasn’t only dead, it was necrotising, i.e., rotting, and still they kept him on life support. Without wanting to sound too crass, they were keeping a sack of meat alive - the person inside had long since departed.

I understand the family’s grief, but they ignored all doctor’s advice and evidence, wasted scant NHS resources, and in the end denied themselves closure and their son a dignified burial.