Parents of the brain-damaged baby say doctors intend to extubate him on Wednesday

The parents of Isaiah Haastrup, the profoundly brain-damaged baby at the centre of a right-to-live legal battle, have said doctors intend to withdraw life support on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after an 11th-hour appeal to European court judges failed.



Isaiah’s parents Lanre Haastrup and Takesha Thomas, both 36, from south London, said they were shocked and disappointed at the timing. “Surely, this is not sufficient to say our goodbyes to our son; we would require a reasonable period to spend with Isaiah,” the couple said in a statement.



Isaiah cannot breathe or move independently after suffering catastrophic brain injuries due to oxygen deprivation at birth. London’s high court has heard he would die very quickly after being removed from ventilation support.



Kings College hospital in London, where Isaiah has been on life support since his birth one year ago, said it would not comment on the proposed timing of the baby’s extubation, citing patient confidentiality.



A letter to his parents informs them of the intention to withdraw Isaiah’s ventilation early on Wednesday afternoon and urges them to spend time with him beforehand. Although their attendance it “not essential”, it is “very much encouraged”, the letter states.



On Tuesday the European court of human rights ruled as inadmissible an appeal by Isaiah’s parents against a high court judgment that it was in their son’s best interests that life-sustaining treatment be withdrawn.



Haastrup claimed the hospital was breaching NHS policy that he said meant parents were “entitled to a sit-down meeting with their doctors to discuss options, choose a time and place, and agree on as many details as possible, including support for their grieving and memory making.”



His statement continued: “We were never given this meeting, and instead have lived for months under the threat of our son being extubated on little or no warning, with no atmosphere of peace or support around us.”



The parents want to discuss the possibility of arrangements being made to transfer Isaiah to the family home or to a hospice, and want time to make an end-of-life plan.



The King’s College Hospital NHS foundation trust said: “The decision to apply to the court to move Isaiah to palliative care was not taken lightly. We consulted five medical experts who unanimously agreed with our application and throughout we have actively sought to involve both parents. Now we must focus on doing what is best for Isaiah and will continue to offer every support to both parents.”

Court hearings have been told of mistrust between the parents and the hospital. Haastrup has made allegations about the hospital’s treatment of Isaiah and now wants it to delay life-support withdrawal to allow police to investigate these claims. The trust said it “strongly rejects” the claims made.



Haastrup said the ECHR decision was disappointing and claimed he had not been given the opportunity to properly present his case. “The ECHR decided to abandon justice and instead prioritised the fierce urgency of killing Isaiah,” he said.



The high court family division judge Mr Justice MacDonald made his original ruling on 29 January, saying it was in Isaiah’s best interests. The baby is ventilator-dependent, has a profoundly depressed level of consciousness, is blind, deaf and suffers from dystonia, which may be causing pain, according to medical experts from five hospitals who have examined him.



MacDonald said the parents’ evidence that Isaiah responded to his mother’s voice and touch was influenced by “the flattering voice of hope”.

