Brain-damaged baby dies in parents' arms
March 12, 2010
John Cotter
THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON–Surrounded by family, a brain-injured baby died in the arms of his parents in an Edmonton hospital after they had spent months trying everything in their power to keep him alive.
Rebecka and Isaac May went to court in January, seeking to prevent doctors from unhooking their son Isaiah from a ventilator until they could get a second medical opinion.
When a B.C. specialist confirmed there was no hope their boy would ever recover, they made the agonizing decision to allow the hospital to remove the life-support apparatus.
The 5-month-old died shortly after noon Thursday, only hours after his parents had been scheduled to appear in court to discuss the independent medical review. The hearing was cancelled.
Aunts, uncles and grandparents were also there as Isaiah took his last breath.
"Isaiah has been a blessing to us and his spirit will always be in our hearts," the parents said in a statement read by their lawyer, Rosanna Saccomani.
"We will never forget the miracle of his birth, the Christmas we spent together and the early spring day when we said our goodbyes. We will always cherish our son and the gift of time with him.
"We have set our tiny miracle free and he is now home in the arms of angels."
Isaiah was born in a hospital in Rocky Mountain House, Alta. last October with severe brain damage after his umbilical cord got wrapped around his throat, which deprived him of oxygen.
Doctors at Edmonton's Stollery Children's Hospital were planning to disconnect Isaiah from a ventilator on Jan. 20, but his parents persuaded a judge to give them time to get a second opinion.
Dr. Richard Taylor, a neonatologist from Victoria General Hospital, examined Isaiah in February.
Taylor determined that the boy could move his limbs and had gained weight, but he also found no brain reflexes and that the boy could not breathe on his own.
"I advised Rebecka and Isaac that I was certain that Isaiah would never recover and that his body movements were likely due to activity in his spinal cord," Taylor said in a statement.
"He would remain ventilator-dependent for the duration of his life. As Isaiah would never recover, we agreed that this degree of life support was no longer appropriate."
The parents, who are both in their early 20s, thanked Taylor and the staff at Stollery Children's Hospital for their help.
They also paid tribute to thousands of people across Canada and around the world who rallied behind them on social networking sites such as Facebook.
Toronto Star