My heart aches for this precious little boy and his parents who are fighting very hard for his life. There is a court order that is demanding the parents to take the 13 months old baby off a respirator however the parents believe this death is very painful and they have requested the hospital to perform a tracheotomy that would allow Joseph to die at home, but the Canadian hospital has refused.
U.S. Hospital Rejects Baby Joseph, Family Not Giving Up Hope
Children's Hospital of Michigan has told the parents of 13-month-old Joseph Maraachli it will not accept the transfer of the infant whose parents are fighting a hospital that wants to remove his breathing tube.
Baby Joseph has been at Victoria Hospital in London, Ontario, in October with a rare deteriorating condition that is not improving.
The doctors who have cared for him want to remove his breathing tube but Moe Maraachli and Sana Nader took their battle to court to allow the tube to be removed at home, so the boy can die surrounded by his family. A Superior Court judge in London, Ontario, last week, dismissed the request of the Canadian couple to overturn a decision requiring the removal of their baby's breathing tube in a hospital instead of at home.
The baby's parents want a tracheotomy performed on their son so they can take him off the respirator and bring him home to live his last days surrounded by family. The London hospital has refused to perform the procedure.
The couple's lawyer, Mark Handelman, had hoped to be able to get Children's Hospital of Michigan to accept a transfer, but the hospital decided against it. Handelman previously said the coupled hoped the Michigan hospital would provide "a second, completely independent medical opinion." Ref. Source 3
Pro-Life Priest Offers to Pay for Baby Joseph's Surgery
An American Catholic priest who heads a pro-life group has offered to pay for all of the costs associated with getting 13-month-old Joseph Maraachli from Canada to the United States for surgery so he can go home to be with his parents. Baby Jospeh is the subject of controversy as his parents are fighting a hospital that wants to remove his breathing tube.
Doctors at Victoria Hospital in London, Ontario, who have been treating the boy for a fatal degenerative disorder, want to remove the breathing tube that is keeping him alive. His parents, Moe Maraachli and Sana Nader, are fully aware that their son will not recover, but they want doctors to fit Joseph with a tracheotomy so they can bring him home as they did eight years ago with their baby daughter Zina, who had a similar condition and died six months after they brought her home.
Instead of doing the tracheotomy, the doctors asked Ontario's Consent and Capacity board for permission to remove the breathing tube. A judge last week agreed with the doctors" position.
Father Frank Pavone, who became known as the "Terri Schiavo Priest" for his role in trying to save the life of a Florida woman in 2005, has joined the fight to save Baby Joseph. Terri's family is already involved. Ref. Source 7
Release of Medical Records Holding Up Transfer of Baby Joseph
As the parents of Baby Joseph Maraachli in Canada wait for a hospital to transfer their son to in order to get a tracheotomy procedure so he can go home, a leading pro-life advocate says releasing medical records is holding up the process.
The parents of the 13-month-old have been fighting a hospital that wants to remove his breathing tube.
Baby Joseph has been at London Health Sciences Centre in London, Ontario, in October with a rare deteriorating condition that is not improving. The doctors who have cared for him want to remove his breathing tube but Moe Maraachli and Sana Nader took their battle to court to allow the tube to be removed at home, so the boy can die surrounded by his family. A Superior Court judge in London, Ontario, last week, dismissed the request of the Canadian couple to overturn a decision requiring the removal of their baby's breathing tube in a hospital instead of at home.
Baby Joseph's parents want a tracheotomy performed on their son so they can take him off the respirator and bring him home to live his last days surrounded by family. The London hospital has refused to perform the procedure.
Leading pro-life and disability rights advocates have been helping the family to find an American hospital to transfer him to, but Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, tells LifeNews.com that the failure by the hospital to release the records has been holding up any transfer. Ref. Source 6
A Christian hospital in the US accepted him as a patient so he is now with his parents there. I don't know the possibilities for him to make it but I believe miracles exist.
Baby Joseph Maraachli Receives Tracheotomy Today at Hospital
Baby Joseph Maraachli, the 14-month-old Canadian infant who was denied the medical procedure in his country, received a tracheotomy today at a Catholic hospital in St. Louis, Missouri.
Joseph was rescued a week ago from a Canadian hospital in London, Ontario by Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, who paid for a private specialized medical plane to take the boy to SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri so he could have the medical procedure before his parents take him home, where he will likely die soon from a degenerative neurological condition.
Moe Maraachli, the baby's father, released a statement saying, "Good morning all friends and family and supporters. Me and my wife we thank you so much for everything and for your praying to our baby Joseph "¦.today is big day for Joseph."
Brother Paul O"Donnell, a Catholic advocate for the rights of the disabled, told the London Free Press that the medical procedure, where doctors make an incision in the infant's throat to insert a breathing tube, started around 8 a.m. Local time.
"I understand he's doing very well," said O"Donnell, who was a key figure in helping the family of Terri Schiavo when her former husband made the decision to take her life and subject her to a 13-day starvation and dehydration euthanasia death.
Later in the day, Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life added: "Today was a big day for Baby Joseph and his family, as the baby received a tracheotomy. Ordinary medical treatments are those that provide a reasonable hope of benefit without an excessive burden. Baby Joseph received today a wonderful benefit, through the love of his parents and the professional care of the Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center." Ref. Source 7
Baby Joseph Maraachli Heading Home After Getting Tracheotomy
Baby Joseph Maraachli is heading back home to Canada after his parents received help from an American pro-life group that assisted when a Canadian hospital refused to provide the baby a tracheotomy to help him breathe.
Joseph's parents wanted him to have the medical procedure done in the same way their daughter had one before she passed away. Joseph now can breathe easier as he dies from a rare medical condition that will soon take his life.
Doctors at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center in St. Louis performed the tracheotomy on March 21 and, in a follow-up statement, deemed the procedure "medically appropriate" after a thorough examination of the 15-month-old boy who a Canadian hospital refused to help.
Today, officials with Priests for Life, the pro-life group that provided the financial and logistical support for bringing Joseph and his family to the United States, informed LifeNews.com Joseph is now headed home.
"Our mission to save Baby Joseph and help his family was never based on any prediction of the future, but rather on the value of his life here and now," Priests for Life director Father Frank Pavone said. "Our critics, on the other hand, looking into the crystal ball that "right to die" advocates seem to always think they have, claimed our intervention was futile because Joseph would only end up having a machine do his breathing for him. Ref. Source 9
Baby Joseph's Father: Why Did Hospital Refuse Medical Care?
That's a good and important question. Joseph clearly was not on the verge of death when the hospitals wanted him off life support and refused a tracheotomy. The tracheotomy obviously provided him great benefit, and in fact, is apparently a normal palliative procedure in cases such as this. Indeed, he's off of machines and home where he can die peacefully in his own time.
So, why was Joseph and the family treated so badly? Why did the family have to go the USA to obtain proper care for their baby? Will Canada Medicare pay for the procedure that so clearly should have been provided to Joseph in his home hospital? Ref. Source 2