Remembering Alfie Evans, The Boy Who Died When a Hospital Yanked His Life Support

During the final days of Alfie Evans’ all-too-brief life, I didn’t sleep well. I went to bed praying for him and woke up, way too early, wondering if he was still alive.

As one member of “Alfie’s Army,” I knew that people around the world were also watching the drama unfold, hoping against hope.

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where Alfie was being held, wanted to disconnect the 23-month old toddler from his ventilator so he could “die with dignity.” Tom Evans and Kate James, Alfie’s parents, refused to give up on their son and, with the help of Pope Francis, received an offer of help from Gesu Bambino hospital in Rome.

The hospital and multiple courts said, “It is in Alfie’s best interests to stay here and die,” even though the Italian government granted Alfie citizenship and sent a plane to England to pick up their newest citizen.

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But the hospital and UK courts prevailed. After five long days, Alfie died. The battle to save one precious little boy became an international controversy. Why?

What was it about Alfie that grabbed the world’s attention? Was it because he was just sooo adorable? The last photo I saw was Alfie being carried by his mom, after the ventilator had been removed. How could anyone think that cuddly little darling would be better off dead?

Did Alfie grab the world’s attention because his young parents were fighting so hard for him? It was not difficult for parents to identify with Tom, 21, and Kate, 20. Parents around the world could easily imagine how they would react if any hospital told them their son or daughter was no longer worth the effort; that no other hospital would be allowed to see what they could do for him; or even that their child would not even be allowed to go home to die.

I ask again, why did this one life move people? Many were shocked and angered that Alder Hey and the British government were adamant that they alone knew what was best for Alfie. It was not as though Alfie’s dad did not fully understood how bleak the prognosis was. In a moving letter to Malcolm Patrick McMahon, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool, Tom wrote: “I am aware that my son’s death is a real possibility and maybe is not a long way off. I know that heaven is waiting for him as I cannot imagine which kind of sin that innocent soul, nailed to his bed as to a cross, may have committed.

“But I’m also aware that his life is precious before God’s eyes and that Alfie himself has a mission to accomplish. Perhaps his mission is to show the entire world the cruelty behind the judge’s words. For this judge stated that Alfie’s life is ‘futile’, thus supporting the same opinion of the hospital which wants him to die by suffocation.

“…We don’t want to force ourselves upon him and we don’t want therapeutic obstinacy but we would at least like his disease to be diagnosed and we would like him to receive the best possible treatment.”

Unfortunately, and in my opinion inexcusably, Archbishop McMahon sided with the hospital, saying they had done all that was humanly possible. Maybe the medical staff at Alder Hey had done all that was possible there, but the Archbishop doesn’t explain why other doctors were not allowed to try something else that may have been possible for them.

Alder Hey and the UK courts—the trial judge, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court–wanted Alfie dead perhaps rather than risk the fallout from what the world might learn from a second opinion. Removing Alfie to Italy would have relieved Alder Hey of any financial burden for caring for Alfie.

But because Alder Hey couldn’t diagnose his mysterious brain disease, they claimed that continuing care compromised his “future dignity.”

How smart must these cold clinicians be, to know better than Alfie’s loving parents what was a burden on Alfie? The battle to save Alfie brought together people from around the world with one loud unified voice to speak on his behalf.

As I read through my Twitter feed with #AlfieEvans or #AlfiesArmy, I could see encouragement and solidarity expressed in many different languages.

This one precious soul, following so closely after last year’s similar situation with Charlie Gard, woke up a world to the injustice happening under our very eyes. Why?

Because a critical number of people finally became aware that cases like this have happened before and, unless things change, will happen more often.

They could happen to you or your loved ones.

Parents in this country have lost children because medical care and treatment were denied because of a genetic anomaly.

Senior citizens and people with disabilities or illness are encouraged, in letters from an insurance company or a state government insurance, to “take advantage” of physician-assisted suicide, rather than seek expensive medical treatment.

And we remember that every baby, including those not yet born, deserves this same outpouring of affection. This battle to save Alfie Evans reminds us that every human being is precious– born or unborn, young or old, healthy or not-so-healthy.

To all those working to save the Alfies of the world, born and unborn, thank you! If you aren’t already fighting for these lives, please join us today.

LifeNews Note: Carol Tobias is the president of the National Right to Life Committee.

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