Doctors believe that a terminally-ill teenager who has a brain tumour will die within weeks after a judge gave them permission to withhold treatment. The 18-year-old man’s parents wanted chemotherapy to continue and his mother had launched a “passionate” fight “for his life” at a fraught late-night hearing at the Court of Protection in London. She said her son was “absolutely adored” and a “miracle child” and urged judge Mrs Justice Hogg not to rule that he “has to die”. The judge described the case as “tragic” but she decided that specialists could lawfully stop providing chemotherapy, end “neuro-surgical intervention” and not resuscitate, after analysing evidence at a hearing which lasted more than eight hours.
A boy, Neon Roberts, who is suffering from cancer, began radiotherapy today, after his mother’s failed High Court battle to prevent him receiving the life-saving treatment.