As a person who sat in 3 meetings to decide the future of my 20 year old brain dead brother, car accident brain stem injury, I can say I feel compete compassion for Alfie's parents. No can ever understand the feelings you go through, my Mum, Dad and I (I was 21) took the decision at the third meeting 24 hours after the first, we also donated his organs.
It wrecked my family, my Dad committed suicide 16 months later, couldn't cope with loss, I still feel guilty 27 years later, had to have 12 sessions of counselling, last year, and my Mum never forgive for living until she died, her favourite put downs being
The wrong son lived or you couldn't wait to convince us to turn your brother's machine off.
Grief is awful, PLEASE DON'T JUDGE ALFIE'S PARENTS, until you have walked a day in their shoes, I have and don't every want to return to it, thank you, we had the choice to make, they have had that choice removed. SO SAD.
Finally, many Doctors and Consultants, may be great medics, but are shit communicators and worse at sympathy, the senior consultant in first meeting, came in said your son/brother is dead, no explanation, and you have to turn machine off, you are wasting a ICU bed and my staff's time.
Third one, spent 25 minutes explaining and taking questions, we agreed to turn it off after him, after first meeting we all looked at each other and said no.
So don't always presume Doctors/Consultants are automatically good at their roles.
Also believe those parents and Charlie's parents will never fully recovery. It isn't medic staff who live 24/7 with the what ifs and guilt. Never judge bereaved parents.
I have never told anyone of those meetings in the 28 years since, over sense of guilt and the sense I also contributed to my Dad's suicide.