Father mounts challenge after judge says doctors can stop treating brain-damaged Isaiah

The father of a brain-damaged boy is preparing to appeal after a High Court judge said doctors could stop providing life-support treatment to the youngster.

Earlier this month Mr Justice MacDonald ruled that 11-month-old Isaiah Haastrup could be allowed to die against his parents' wishes.

But Isaiah's father, Lanre Haastrup, has asked Court of Appeal judges to consider the case.

Officials say a Court of Appeal hearing in London has been listed for February 21.

Mr Justice MacDonald had considered Isaiah's case at a hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

Specialists caring for Isaiah at King's College Hospital in London said giving further intensive care treatment to the little boy, who will be 12 months old on February 18, was "futile, burdensome and not in his best interests".

They had asked Mr Justice MacDonald to give them the go-ahead to provide only palliative care.

Isaiah's mother, Takesha Thomas, and father, who are both 36 and from Peckham, south-east London, wanted treatment to continue.

Barrister Fiona Paterson, who represented King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, had told Mr Justice MacDonald how Isaiah was born at the hospital on February 18 2017 and was 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.

Doctors told the judge that Isaiah suffered "catastrophic" brain damage due to being deprived of oxygen at birth.

They said Isaiah was in a low level of consciousness, could not move or breathe independently and was connected to a ventilator.

Doctors said Isaiah did not respond to stimulation.

But Miss Thomas told the judge: "When I speak to him he will respond, slowly, by opening one eye."

She added: "I see a child who is injured. He needs love. He needs care. I have it. I can give it.

"To say it is so poor, it is not worth living, that is not right. It is not their decision to make."

Mr Haastrup had fought back tears at the trial as he outlined a series of complaints about the hospital to Mr Justice MacDonald.

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.

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