AIBU to think that thousands of people loving charlie and bradley is some what false.

[Lonelymummyof1]

I know exactly what It is like to have a poorly child same as hundreds more parents in the uk.
Set aside my belief that I believe that bradley has very little dignity and both him and charlie are now used as some weird sort of click bait.

The supporters I do not understand it ?

We love you, we are heart broken and we will miss you.

Now I get empathy but this is not empathy this is media posts just gone crazy to write the most heart breaking post they can.
I wish neither of these children would have to lose their life and can undetstand the parents pain just like the rest of the terminally ill children in this country.

You can feel sad that these things happen but this just seems weird and could not imagine allowing a nation of people watching my child pass away.

I mean how many of them 2 years from now will wake up on the morning of their anniversary and automatically remember them ?

Also there's a comment about what people should say if interviewed by press..along lines of GOSH will want their own post mortem/make it private so can't be known that it actually is all cover up and they've got it all wrong..and different coroners may also be bribed to stay quiet...

FFS. Do people actually believe this? Or are they enjoying the ride on the bandwagon?

Going by the page hard to say which..

It's hard to understand just how this all became so distorted. It is unbelievable that these idiots are calling GOSH staff murderers. It is GOSH that have kept poor Charlie alive all this time.

They are protesting outside the place because they believe the Queen has the power to overrule the courts.

While I believe technically she can. It will never ever happen in the 21st century.

Someone posted a pic of a mum cuddling her dead baby ( fb of course ) I was beyond horrified.

Well like other people on this thread my reaction has been to make a donation to GOSH.

I hope the good that comes out of this awful situation is a renewed understanding of what good work they do and that those people like me, prompted to give a donation in response to the abuse they are receiving, far outweighs those donations lost.

The people I feel sorry for are the children involved and the hard working medical staff. Everyone who's jumped on the bandwagon to slate GOSH- hope you feel proud of the damage that you're potentially doing to thousands of other children currently in GOSH or who will need specialist treatment in future

I was asked in a shop today whether I wanted to round my total up to the nearest pound to make a donation to GOSH. I said, absolutely, then we had a discussion about what a hard time they were having at the moment. It was only about 20p so hardly worth it, but I hope it adds up.

Goodness, it's all descended into complete hysteria since these protests started. I just don't understand how such a large number of people can be so completely stupid as to believe any of this conspiracy rubbish? Is it purely just being swept up by mob mentality making them act this way?

I don't see how this can be any good for the parents. Ultimately it won't "save" Charlie and he cannot be saved. The parents are likely in a very delicate mental state (understandably!!) and so more likely to be swept along with this madness, which isn't going to help them to begin to come to terms with what is going to happen. I know that sounds flippant, and this isn't something any parent would ever really "come to terms" with, but it must be made all the harder by mistakenly thinking that Charlie would possibly be saved by the right treatment, and having that belief reinforced by bellowing, frothing idiots cannot be helping them at all.

Actually I am going to encourage everyone I know to donate to GOSH. It would be awful if their funding fell because of this madness

I think the conspiracy bullshit is comforting to some people. Easier to believe that every sick baby COULD be saved if only enough people wanted to, than face the reality that sometimes there isn't any miracle cure. Same as the people who believe terrorist attacks are all secretly done by the government - less scary to think that the government has the power to stop every bad thing happening, if only it wanted to.

As I understand it from the comments, the Charlie's Army facebook page is run and moderated by family and friends and only things approved by the family are going up there, so it doesn't look like this is being done 'to' them, but rather that this is information they agree with and wish to share.

It's reaching the point where the confidentiality and professionality barring GOSH from being able to refute any of this is becoming damaging to them and it must surely have long since passed the line into libel (or slander, never quite sure on the legal difference) and defamation. All credit to them they are still prioritising their patient and his family at such a cost to themselves. I'm all for free speech but in cases this extreme I'm starting to wonder if there needs to be a development to the rules around confidentiality to prevent such a one sided narrative being allowed to take such hold without balance.

As I understand it from the comments, the Charlie's Army facebook page is run and moderated by family and friends and only things approved by the family are going up there, so it doesn't look like this is being done 'to' them, but rather that this is information they agree with and wish to share.

I didn't realise that!

In case anyone else is considering it;

www.gosh.org/donate/supporting-us-through-regular-giving

Yes - I've said this on the other thread - But Charlie's mum has posted directly from her personal Fb to that group.

It does sound as if at least in the past she was struggling to see that GOSH had Charlie's best interests at heart. Understandably - I cannot imagine how she must be feeling.

There are about 30k people in the FB group, but only about 100 rsvped to the protest, and I doubt that many turned up. Easier to sit at home, writing poisonous invective about medical professionals and making up conspiracy theories.

The ones that did turn up, though... A 'murder' banner, and chanting 'GOSH is killing a baby'. I agree with MissHavisham - surely, at some point, this becomes defamation? Publicly accusing an organisation whose sole purpose is treating very unwell children of murder, in a literal and specific way?

I understand that many people do view removal of life support as akin to murder - I don't agree with them, but it's their perspective - but there's expressing a heated opinion about a sensitive issue, and then there's stating that medical professionals have unlawfully and deliberately killed a child.

I believe that people can genuinely empathise with the suffering of others, even children and families they don't know, feeling a real form of grief at their losses and outrage at their treatment. It is wrenching to see pictures of Charlie as his condition has deteriorated.

I also believe that certain people feel a grim sort of excitement in being part of a mob, an unfolding drama, and that most people hurling uninformed abuse at medical professionals fall into this category.

I don't normally get too affected by cases like these. The Charlie situation- obviously upsetting and I feel terribly for the parents. But I class it as another sad case of a child being ill.

Bradley- this little boy has touched my heart. Maybe it's because I have a boy of a similar age who loves his football. Maybe it's because of Facebook I've been kept up to date with his life. Maybe it's because I havnt long experienced my first death of a loved one (grandparent- terminal cancer) But I genuinely feel sick when I think of him and what he's going through.

It is wrenching to see pictures of Charlie as his condition has deteriorated

Yes it is obvious that Charlie has deteriorated over time. More recent photos show a baby very different from those that were used when the parents first started fund raising.

It is all very sad but I can't help feeling that the parents have prolonged the agony by refusing to accept the inevitable.

I sat and sobbed yesterday evening over Charlie and Bradley, yet I feel like a fraud, like I'm gatecrashing someone else's grief and I've no right to be upset. It's just so bloody sad isn't it? Not wanting to derail the thread but it makes me wonder how people continue to believe in God when you see cases like this.

Please don't bite my head off here.

Ellie reading what you said at the end there i can't help feeling that the parents have prolonged the agony.

I strongly believe that the parents are making their child suffer more than the hospital will by turning his machines off. It's hard for them to accept and I get that, but they new to realise they are making him suffer and they are making him uncomfortable and as understandable as it is they are being so very selfish and putting their wants before charlies.

I don't think it's appropriate to criticise the parents. (Sorry if that sounds a bit sanctimonious, but I don't.)

I have endless admiration for parents who go through this ordeal with a relatively calm and rational exterior attitude, no matter how much they're privately raging, but I can't say with certainty that I could hold myself to that standard. I think, if my DC received a terminal diagnosis, a large part of me would want to burn the whole world down.

That doesn't meant I should be encouraged and goaded on by a mob of supporters, though.

They don't seem to be the brightest bunch... here is one messaging a Sky New bot.

I don't understand all people
Saying "you can't say you wouldn't do this, you never know how you'll react in that situation"

Which is undoubtedly true. However since terminally ill children die every week, and we have only heard of a handful of their parents suing hospitals, fundraising, doing media interviews and starting campaigns it's probably fair to assume that most parents don't and therefore won't isn't it?

I'm pretty sure I'm in the majority that would be there quietly at my Child's bedside rather than up all night with lawyers.

I've had a look at the awful comments on the GOSH site and can't help but think these are the same idiots who voted Brexit in the referendum and have now forgotten all about it. (I'm not saying everyone who voted Brexit is an idiot, just talking about the bandwagon and the short memory.)

Just saw another classic post on Charlie's Army claiming that the MRI scans have been falsified because they say "Charles" and not "Charlie". Someone actually had to explain that Charlie is a nickname for Charles..