Baby twins die in hospital after life support switched off against parents' wishes

SEVERELY ill twin babies died in hospital after a judge ruled doctors could turn their life-support machines off against their parents’ wishes.

The boys died aged 14 months after judge Justice Holman agreed with doctors who said prolonging their life was “futile and unjustifiable”.

But the twins’ Muslim parents argued it is against their Islamic faith to withdraw life support before the children’s brains had stopped working, suggesting they were “killing the child” by switching off their machines.

Born with a progressive neurological disorder said to be “untreatable and completely incurable”, the two babies died at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital last week.

Judge Mr Justice Holman ruled it was 'futile and unjustifiable' to keep the boys alive UPPA / PHOTOSHOT

The pair continued to deteriorate after being admitted to hospital in January and were never discharged, with both boys on a mechanical ventilator to survive.

Mr A, the boys’ father, argued their babies ought to be kept alive in the hope of a cure and showed the court a touching video of his tiny sons in hospital. He also claimed their children smiled when tickled.

Medics said they never witnessed this, but insisted that even if it were the case, the babies’ brains were so damaged they were unable to experience pleasure from comforting stimuli.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Holman said: “These boys are merely artificially surviving. Their situation is unquestionably irreversible, and can only deteriorate progressively further.

“It is not in the best interests of either boy the process be artificially prolonged, and it is in their best interests that nature should now be permitted to take its inevitable course.

“That is the tragic destiny of each of these boys.”

A spokesman from Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “Our clinical teams diagnosed that sadly the twins’ condition was both incurable and untreatable, and as such they had to make the very difficult decision that withdrawing ventilation was in the twins best interests.

“This is not a decision that has been taken lightly, and we have worked very closely with the family and our chaplaincy team to ensure that they have had our full support throughout their time at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

“Unfortunately we could not agree a way forward with the parents and therefore asked for a judicial review of the case. Our deepest sympathies are with the family at this difficult time."