to all GN's living in France 4 year old boy missing

Yes. Definitely right for the police to have mounted a search for them. But leave them alone now.

In these kind of 'individual' vs 'the organisation' it is natural to side with the apparent underdog. What would response have been like if the child had died en route to Spain or it had ended in some awful family suicide? We would, I suspect, be berating police/hospital authority for not doing something more quickly.

People are quick to judge on partial evidence. The organisation (hospital) can only make limited comment due to confidentiality whereas the individual can say what they like, & on social media, which will be their version for the truth.

These are, understandably, sad, hurting and angry parents looking for hope. They took the child away without telling the hospital. They say because they thought the hospital would make the child a ward of court. We were not party to that conversation. In a state of distress it is easy not to take on board all the you are told or the manner in which it was said.

It is, of course, possible that the consultant paediatric oncologist is a hard-hearted bastard but I have known parents with very sick children who have had nothing but praise for the devotion of the medics to do all they could for the child.

This is a no-win situation and it does feel like the court lacked empathy for the parents who should be with their very sick child rather than being held on remand.

I think the parents have got the manner of his dying right. They wanted him to be with his family, not on a hospital ward.
My husband was allowed to die at home. Why not this boy? If he dies today or tomorrow, what memories will the parents have?

I posted earlier that I thought the best place would be a hospice with caring people and his loving family there.

But the parents may not be thinking rationally and that is not a crime, nor is disagreeing with doctors about treatment when they are seeking alternatives in desperation. The doctors could suggest nothing more so what is the problem?

This is the latest from The Telegraph,
But he and his wife, who are Jehovah’s Witnesses, were held under a European arrest warrant on suspicion of child neglect when discovered in a hostel near Malaga and have not seen their son since.

It's about the child being given the treatment his parents have chosen, which might allow him to live.

If they can raise the money for the treatment in a country with the necessary facility, why shouldn't they be allowed to do so?

Petallus, it was radiotherapy that the hospital were talking about giving him, not chemotherapy, radiotherapy that would destroy more of the brain than the therapy the parents wanted.
Since when were parents denied the right to pay for treatment for their own children? The reason there is not much proof that it works is because not many people have the treatment. Only about 1% of cancers can be treated with proton beam.
This is a horrible situation. I had to sign the forms for my husband to have radiotherapy after he had his brain tumour removed, because he would not have remembered signing them the next day. It did not work, and his memory was affected.
What would you do for your children or grandchildren in this situation?
Jamside, the soundbite should be to let the family alone, to get on with helping their son.

petition here

This arguement is not about the dying child.
It's about the manner of his dying

I can understand the police being extremely anxious when they thought the little boy might be suffering through the battery on his equipment failing. That would be a good reason to search for him. But they now know that the parents had everything sorted out - his special food had been ought online for the journey, and they had a lead to run the equipment via the car battery. They have taken obviously taken great care. When he was found he was "showing no obvious signs of distress".

What reason can they have for wanting to extradite them?

Anyone know where the petition is?

I hope the Spanish court doesn't extradite them. As far as I can see (sorry, haven't read every single post, just adding my view ), having watched the father on You Tube, the parents are perfectly rational and caring people. It sounds like the Consultants involved didn't like the fact that they were disagreeing with them and took a very high handed attitude. I think they over exaggerated the threat to the child which the Police then acted on. There doesn't seem to be any law broken here and now they are all trying to cover themselves. At the centre of all this mess is a very ill child and a family trying to do their best in the face of heavy handed behaviour - I hope it is successfully resolved soon - how long before we have a sound bite from a politician I wonder.

This is making me angry and upset.
If the hospital here can do nothing further then why are the parents not allowed to seek any further advice and help, even if it is clutching at straws? They have a home in Spain, they were not just on the run.
So cruel to arrest them like that and separate the family.
jings I don't think they were charged with anything, rather it was to be given an extradition order back to the UK and the lovely, caring, empathetic Hampshire police.
The parents may not be thinking straight, they need sympathy and understanding, not an arrest warrant.
I despair, judging by the news lately, have the police forces in the UK completely lost their way?

Well said Jess and Galen

So wrong.

It does seem wrong that the parents are being treated like criminals when they have done nothing illegal. it would have been better if the hospital had arranged for them to have the boy at home while they investigated further options. It would have given the family some breathing space rather than feeling forced into drastic action.
They may be misguided and grasping at straws but this doesn't make them criminals.

May be wrong jings but I think they are charged with neglect.

Why did the poor parents have to appear in court today in handcuffs? Just seen this on Sky news. They are also now being kept from seeing their son. Complete and utter mess. If this little boy is likely to die soon I hope the parents will be, with his siblings, at his side, not being extradited or appearing in a court miles away to face charges.

And surely they won't extradite them away from their child will they?

Said on the news the parents have appeared in court. Charged with what?

I feel sorry for oncologists. They just want to save lives. They are not trained in counselling or psychiatry. Every day they have to tell people they have cancer. Many days they have to tell people they are not going to survive. Sometimes they have to tell people their children are not going to get better. Patients and their families do not always behave rationally. Many go into denial. Some are angry. Many are scared and sad. Some want to know everything. Some want to know nothing. In the midst of all this the oncologists have to make difficult decisions about treatment. And the treatment for the most part is harsh and, to some extent, damaging. It's a really difficult job. I know my son was a pretty difficult patient for his oncologists, refusing treatment initially (he's better now). I remember the day he was so impatient wanting to home after chemo that he removed the line out of his hand and discharged himself. His friend who had bowel cancer was in denial about how ill he was. Convinced the doctors were talking rubbish when they told him there was nothing they could do. So much in denial that he carried on working until he was admitted to the hospice a few days before he died - and did not write a will despite having a wife and child.
I watched the video and the father struck me as a man that was very angry and in denial about how ill his son is.
It appears bad that the parents have been arrested but remember we only know selected facts.

According to the BBC news tonight the NHS have paid for about 150 people, 99 of them children, to have this treatment abroad.

petallus
My understanding is that the hospital have said , no further treatment is possible.
It's the parents who won't accept this fact.

So terrible to see the parents being treated like criminals. They may be misguided in their attempts to find the right treatment for their son but they are only doing what any parent would do and that's to clutch at straws.

I would think then that a good option would be not to give further treatment such as chemotherapy since the side effects are likely to be further impairment and a high level of discomfort for this poor child.

My fear is that the Consultants concerned will insist on giving the treatment.

The sad fact is that not all members of the medical profession can be trusted to do the sensible thing. When my father was in hospital and known to have only a few days left to live, his doctor still insisted on prescribing vitamin tablets. I would have known nothing of this except a kind nurse told me about it and suggested I might consider saying I wanted the tablets stopped. Which I did.

Am I the only one who gets the impression, in this sad case, that there is a bit of a power struggle going on between the father/parents and the two Consultants?

But, my I point out that I'm not a neurosurgeon.
I'm just pointing out logical conclusions.
I feel very sorry for this family, but do feel that they are being very unrealistic