The father of a brain-damaged boy at the centre of a life-support treatment fight has mounted an attack on hospital bosses with responsibility for his son’s care.
Specialists at King’s College Hospital in London say giving further intensive care treatment to 11-month-old Isaiah Haastrup is “futile, burdensome and not in his best interests”.
Bosses at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust have asked a High Court judge to let doctors stop providing life-support treatment and allow Isaiah to die.
Isaiah’s mother, Takesha Thomas, and father Lanre Haastrup, who are both 36 and from Peckham, south-east London, want treatment to continue.
Mr Haastrup fought back tears on Wednesday as he outlined a serious of complaints about the hospital to Mr Justice MacDonald at a hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London.
He said the trust had “harmed” Isaiah at birth, told the judge that a “negligence case” was under way and complained about the way he had been treated.
“I have been treated really bad by the applicant,” he said.
“This is a case involving a child that the applicant harmed at birth.
“There is a negligence case under way.”
He added: “There have been failings. But for them Isaiah would be at home having a lovely meal with me, with his lovely mum, playing around.”
Mr Haastrup said “everything about this case” was “about full control for the applicant”.
He accused doctors of not taking account of his views or those of Miss Thomas.
“The response we get is ‘you don’t have a say. We are doctors. We do what we like’,” he said.
“We are faced with ‘get out of our faces. We are doing what we want. We are not interested’.”
He said at one stage he had been banned from visiting the hospital and was now allowed to see Isaiah “only for a few hours at night”.
But Mr Haastrup said he and Miss Thomas were Christians and had “no hatred” for the trust.
“We see the world through the prism of hope,” he said.
“We see the world through love.”
He told the Judge: “Isaiah, if you do decline this application, would have the best parents, would have the best love, would have the best care.”
Barrister Fiona Paterson, representing King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, has told Mr Justice MacDonald that Isaiah was born at King’s College Hospital on February 18 2017 and is severely disabled
She said nobody could understand the pain and suffering Isaiah’s parents had endured.
But she said overwhelming medical evidence showed that stopping treatment was in Isaiah’s best interests.
Mr Justice MacDonald finished analysing evidence on Wednesday and is expected to announce his decision next week.
The judge has considered the case at a private hearing.
He has said the case can be reported but has ruled that medics involved in Isaiah’s care cannot be identified.