Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

To post a message about a missing child

189 replies

alreadytaken · 29/08/2014 09:54

A five-year-old boy with a brain tumour has been taken without consent from hospital by his parents, sparking a major police hunt for the family.

Ashya King was taken from Southampton General Hospital and is now believed to be in France with his parents and six siblings.

Police said he needs constant medical care and there are "serious concerns" for his life if he is not found today.

The family, from Southsea, Portsmouth, were travelling in a grey coloured Hyundai I800 Style CRDI, registration KP60 HWK.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28978655

OP posts:
Pobblewhohasnotoes · 30/08/2014 15:25

If you want to transfer care elsewhere there are ways of doing it, even if medical teams don't agree with the decision. Although they can go to court if they disagree, if they feel it's not in the child's best interest. This includes blood transfusions which oncology patients often need (I see the parent are Jehovah's witnesses). All the parents are doing in this case is risking child protection procedures being commenced. Of course they have a right to disagree with the treatment but it doesn't mean it's always in the child's best interest to do so.

sanfairyanne · 30/08/2014 15:33

this thread on mumsnet explains a bit more about tube feeding in general
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/in_the_news/2171063-Little-boy-has-been-removed-from-hospital-by-his-parents

Lifesalemon · 30/08/2014 16:25

Thanks for the link to tube feeding Sanfairyanne
Do the people who are claiming bolus feeding using a syringe is easy know that he definitely has a tube into his stomach? You can't give a bolus feed into the jejunum, you need the pump plus other equipment that needs to be sterile. Most of which has to be discarded after 24 hours.
This thread is pointless as none of us have any facts.

Karsyn · 30/08/2014 16:32

i think the way it's being handled is just awful for the famly.

there is no legal order saying the child could not be taken from hospital by parents and people are free to leave a hospital aginst medical advice, it is NOT a crime.

news reports are saying the parents likely took him elsewhere to get better treatment.

Now, with the police involved and contacting all the hospitals in eurpoe, the family are probably too scared to get treatment because they think the police will take their child.

Its very sad and wrong.

steff13 · 30/08/2014 16:40

Steff13 if that BBC report is correct they won't have the means to feed him.

Yes, I'm aware of that. But if there's no hope, perhaps they don't intend to continue feeding him but to continue with pain management until he passes away. Hospices frequently do that, remove feeding tubes and let people die naturally. However misguided these parents may (or may not) be, we don't know the whole story. We can only guess what their intentions are, and what resources they have available to them.

thinkingaboutfostering · 30/08/2014 16:41

I thought he had a ng tube in? I was under the impression you could do bolus feeds that way?

Lifesalemon · 30/08/2014 16:45

You can bolus through an Ng tube but not an Nj

OpiesOldLady · 30/08/2014 16:45

BBC news are reporting that a European arrest warrant has been issued for the boys parents.

MyFairyKing · 30/08/2014 17:04

By why? For what crime?

thinkingaboutfostering · 30/08/2014 17:07

I thought he had a ng tube in? I was under the impression you could do bolus feeds that way?

thinkingaboutfostering · 30/08/2014 17:10

It just seems odd it's gone this far. I hope they are all ok wherever they are.

nocoolnamesleft · 30/08/2014 17:19

You would need access to feeds, though. I worry for him. I feel sorry for them. They will have been going through hell. But, whether they are seeking a second opinion, or to stop trying, this isn't the way. It is extremely unlikely that they have:
Feeds
Decent pain relief
Anticonvulsants
Anti nausea/vomiting meds
Steroids
Sedatives
Meds to control secretions
Back up from nurses with 24/7 contact number
Prearranged immediate access to the paediatricians at the nearest hospital

Which is about the minimum for a fighting chance at either a comfortable death, or indeed a safe transfer.

These poor parents are in anguish. And I am more than happy to believe that they are acting in what they strongly believe to be his best interest. But I am really worried that he will suffer for it...and then so will they.

brainfidget · 30/08/2014 17:21

Arrest warrant, if true, sounds a sensible measure. It seems clear they are not seeking medical treatment for the child, as too much time has elapsed... (it didn't seem probable even yesterday IMO).

By why? For what crime?
Possibly wrt Children and Young Persons Act 1933?

Lifesalemon · 30/08/2014 17:22

thinkingaboutfostering
On the photographs I have seen he does have a visible feeding tube but it is impossible to tell from that where the tube is placed. If its in his stomach (Ng) you are right about the possibility of bolus feeding but if it bypasses his stomach and goes into his jejunum (Nj) then bolus feeding is not advised.
There are risks with Ng bolus feeding too if you are not properly trained, one being that if the tube becomes displaced the feed could end up in the lungs.
He may not even be being fed via that tube, there is a possibility that the pump they are talking about feeds Tpn directly into a vein. None have the reports I have seen have actually said what the pump they are so worried about was actually for, only some kind of feed.
As I said before, this thread is pointless because we don't know the facts.

steff13 · 30/08/2014 17:27

Which is about the minimum for a fighting chance at either a comfortable death, or indeed a safe transfer.

The only thing he would really need for a comfortable death is pain relief, though. Towards the end here, people are frequently only given larger and larger doses of pain meds.

Lifesalemon · 30/08/2014 17:38

steff13
You are right there. I hope they find him soon and he's not in too much pain at the moment.

Icimoi · 30/08/2014 18:31

The arrest warrant is apparently for neglect. The police have said they wouldn't necessarily charge the parents, but not unreasonably everyone wants to find them.

brainfidget · 30/08/2014 18:35

If it's for neglect, then I think it will indeed be wrt Children and Young Persons Act 1933.

OpiesOldLady · 30/08/2014 18:39

The BBC are now saying that Aysha's family have taken steps to be able to feed him.

Good luck to them.

chopinbabe · 30/08/2014 21:25

The sooner the child is found and given proper treatment, even if that is the right to die pain free, the better.

'Guided by love' does not excuse their actions.

Many fools believe they are 'guided' by love when they behave badly: beating children in order to teach them manners right up to sexually abusing children and including men who beat women for their own good. It is an excuse of the worst kind: 'so sorry I damaged you.....it was done with the best of intentions.'

The fact that the authorities have taken such unusual steps shows that the boy is at risk and anything else is simply wishful and naïve thinking.

Some posters seem to be viewing taking the view that what the parents have done is no different to taking a child out of the education system in order to home school. It is not.

ICanSeeTheSun · 30/08/2014 21:55

I have been thinking of this, and please don't pay attention in what I originally said.

The reason for the change of heart is because I am not in the parents situation and as a mother myself if I thought I could get better treatment or different treatment that could cure my child I would do everything in my power to get it.

Floralnomad · 30/08/2014 21:55

The BBC are reporting that they have been found in Spain .

fififolle · 30/08/2014 22:00

He's been found in Spain.

LiberalLibertines · 30/08/2014 22:22

It also said the parents had the means to feed him. It's all so sad :(

cheepsskram · 30/08/2014 23:01

The father's response. I feel so sorry for them all.

Swipe left for the next trending thread