Ashya

I think everyone will know immediately what that thread is about. I don't think we need a second thread. People won't know where to post.

Ok. Understood, thanks for your comments!

Didn't mean to sound bossy btw.

No I know that and I meant also to put a !

Well I didn't know that thread about a 4 year old boy missing in France was actually about a boy who is in Spain - I didn't read it as I don't live in France so wouldn't be able to help. Plus, he wasn't missing, he was with his parents.

Did you know that his name was Ashya?

And he is 5

Did you know that his name was Ashya?

Not until last night night, no (I haven't watched much tv and I rarely read newspapers anyway).

The thread was entitled 'To all GNs living in France' - I don't live in France so felt I would be of no help to anyone on that thread.

And he is 5

And?

All quibbling aside I am horrified that his parents were subject to a cross border arrest warrant when they had not committed a crime - poor boy is now all on his own without his mummy and daddy

Yes, that's what gets me - all this huffing and puffing about paperwork and would it work/might it work/should the authorities do this, that or the other means nothing to that poor child.

He's alone, under police guard and doesn't know what's going on and why his parents aren't there. It's heartbreaking.

I hear his elder brother has now been allowed to see him, which is something, but still not the same as his mum and dad.

Were the other siblings already in Spain? Not sure how they all got there.

What is the point in having two threads running?

Because half of us didn't realise that the other thread was about a 5 year old in Spain

As I understand it they drove to Spain to sell their holiday home there to finance the treatment they want him to have. It is being reported that there was a "breakdown in communication" between the parents and the hospital. The parents had investigated various treatments and had been told by the hospital that the treatment they wanted to try wouldn't help (and isn't available on NHS).

It is so wrong that his parents are in prison when they should be at his bedside.

It seems to me that, however misguided they may be, his parents acted out of love and a feeling of desparation and the authorities in this country and Spain are acting out of vindictiveness at having their power thwarted. Meanwhile a very sick child is being punished by not having his parents at his side.

I can't help but feel rather bewildered by this. Of course the parents are desperate to help their little boy, but surely it would have been better to have first sold the property in Spain to raise the money for his treatment, leaving him in hospital till this was achieved. In the meantime made proper arrangements with the hospital in Prague who are willing to treat him, and had him transferred appropriately with his parents when all this was in place, sooner than subject him to a long car journey, ending up in a foreign (hot) country, in a hotel, then in a strange hospital, strange language, and worst of all deprived of his parents. There must be more to this than meets the eye, because I cannot think for the life of me that any parents would behave in such a cavalier way with such a sick child.

I think the father explained the reasons why they acted as they did in the YouTube video nigglynellie, and I found him very convincing. They had already sold the properly in Spain but needed to sign paperwork for the sake to be completed. As to why they left the hospital with Ashya, he explained that the doctors had threatened that unless they cooperated with the treatment plan, they would seek an Emergency Protection Order to keep Ashya there and prevent them seeing him. As it is, we know that the hospital actually asked the local authority to initiate Wardship proceedings and that this was done.

It seems to me that the only 'breakdown in communication' came from the doctors who stopped communicating with the parents and failed to send on medical records as requested. I don't believe there is any more to this story. Having been involved in negotiating with doctors in child protection situations on many occasions I know only too well that faults can occur on both sides, and positions can become entrenched. Sometimes the needs of the child can be lost in professional battles. This case is not unique but has to be one of the most tragic.

I still can't see why the whole family had to go to Spain to sign the papers for the sale, surely just the father/mother could have gone, come home and made appropriate arrangements for this little boy to be moved. Obviously if the relationship with the hospital had broken down as it would appear it has, this would make it much more difficult. I still feel that if the hospital were being difficult and threatening, appealing to your MP, seeking legal advice, getting the local/national press on board would have been a better way to tackle what is now a dreadful situation for this terminally ill little boy.

The CPS are withdrawing the European Warrant.

I t looks as though the parents may be released fairly soon.

Well that is a step in the right direction, I say.