I am not going to say much about the story of Alfie Evans, the Liverpudlian toddler, who is suffering from a rare degenerative neurological condition. Doctors at Alder Hey hospital have said that further treatment is not in “his best interests” and any further treatment was not only “futile” but also “unkind and inhumane”. The last time I wrote about a similar case, I was threatened with legal action, removal from the internet (!) and described as “mentally ill” by the family publicist. I have learned my lesson well and, as demanded, removed everything I wrote about the story from my website. Free speech is only available to those who can afford it.
What should really be a personal family matter has spiralled quickly into something else, with the hospital surrounded by “protesters” who seem to suggest the young boy is somehow a “prisoner”. Hospital staff and other patients have had to run a gauntlet of abuse simply going into the hospital building from a rag tag rabble of “protesters”. Now that Alfie’s life support system has been switched off, many of these people tried to storm the building itself. I am not sure how this benefits anyone.
Today, I hear that the hospital has asked that if patients can avoid coming to A&E unless they really need to. When you hear something like that, things are out of hand. It is one thing protesting about this young boy but it is quite another to physically obstruct the efforts of others to attend hospital for treatment and those treating others.
Imagine if you were attending that hospital for treatment, or you were taking a loved one, perhaps a child. And you had to walk through a large, highly vocal crowd, through a large number of police officers just to make your appointment. How would you feel if you were visiting a desperately sick relative who wanted to leave the building for some fresh air and a moment to get your head together and you had to dodge a chanting crowd to do so? Some of these people complain about the so-called inhumanity of doctors – I am not making this up – but they don’t seem to have the slightest concern for anyone else.
And don’t get me started on the intervention of God’s vicar on earth, the Pope. I don’t want to sound flippant or disrespectful here, but if the God character was so vital to Alfie’s survival, then how come he allowed him to become so ill in the first place?
We shouldn’t even know about this. It’s a private matter. It’s my morality and principles versus someone else’s. Mine surround the unnecessary suffering of a young child and the future lack of quality of life. I don’t expect everyone else to share this view, although if I am being honest I can’t work out why they don’t.
