Charlie Gard: Pope and Trump offer parents support

The Head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis has called for the parents of terminally-ill Charlie Gard to be allowed to "accompany and treat their child until the end". Chris Gard and Connie Yates had been expecting their 10-month-old's life support to be turned off on Friday.


But Great Ormond Street Hospital said it will continue Charlie's care to allow the family to spend more time with him. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump tweeted his support on Monday.
He wrote: "If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so."

The Vatican said the Pope was following the case "with affection and sadness".
A statement released on Sunday said the Pope wished to "expresses his closeness to his [Charlie's] parents".
"For them he prays, hoping that their desire to accompany and care for their own child to the end is not ignored," it said.

The statement came on the same day demonstrators gathered outside Buckingham Palace to protest against the decision to allow Charlie's life-sustaining treatment to be withdrawn.

On 27 June, Charlie's parents lost their final legal appeal to take him to the US for experimental treatment.
His parents also said the hospital had denied their final wish to be able to take their son home to die, and felt "let down" following the lengthy legal battle.

Judges at the European Court of Human Rights concluded that further treatment would "continue to cause Charlie significant harm", in line with advice from specialists at Great Ormond Street.