Alfie Evans could live for TEN DAYS without ventilation
Paul Diamond, the lawyer representing the Evans family, has been battling in court since 4pm today to overthrow the ruling which decided to put an end to the life-aid that has kept him alive in the last months. The judge will decide whether Alfie should be allowed to be flown to Italy after the country granted him citizenship yesterday, to continue receiving treatment at the Bambin Gesu hospital in Rome. The decision is set to be released any time this afternoon. In court today the lawyer for Alfie's parents Paul Diamond told the judge the 23-month-old could live for as long as 10 days without life-support ventilation. On Monday the toddler’s life-support ventilation was switched off after doctors said there was nothing more they could do for him.
But the brave child took everyone by surprise and started breathing without aid. On Facebook, Alfie's mum Kate James said today: "Alfie has been allowed oxygen and water. How amazing is he. "No matter what happens he has already proved these doctors wrong." The toddler’s father Tom Evans told reporters outside Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool: “For nine hours Alfie’s been breathing for now. He’s still breathing now. "They say Alfie's suffering. We’ll look at him now. He's not even on a ventilator and he's not suffering."
INSTAGRAM/PA Alfie Evans: Lawyer Paul Diamond said the toddler can survive 10 days without life-aid ventilation
Asked what intervention doctors had made, Mr Evans replied: "They left him for six hours without food, water and oxygen. "I felt blessed when they confirmed they were going to give him his water and his oxygen. "He's now on oxygen. It's not changing his breathing but it's oxygenating his body. "He is still working, he's doing as good as he can. "But we do need him to be supported ... in the next hour it's going to be hard but we will need him to be supported in the next hour or two. "Because he's been doing it for nine hours totally unexpected.
TWITTER Alfie Evans: The court is to decide whether the toddler can fly to Italy to receive more treatment
“The doctors are gobsmacked and I do believe he will need some form of life support in the next couple of hours and I think he ought to be respected and given that." The boss of the Italian National Institute of Health today slammed the UK’s handling of Alfie’s case as “shocking and inhumane”. Walter Ricciardi said: "Quite often English people make decisions I do not approve of. "They are unable to break away from rigid NHS norms and regulations. "There are a lot of other more humane ways to deal with cases like this one.
PA Alfie Evans: The toddler have been breathing without life-support ventilation for almost 10 hours
Alfie Evans in pictures: Heartbreaking photos of Alfie in hospital Tue, April 24, 2018 Alfie has a degenerative neurological condition which has not been definitively diagnosed after being born in a "semi-vegetative" state. Play slideshow Facebook 1 of 12 Alfie Evans pictured in hospital with his mother