Aysha is a 5 year old terminally ill child who was receiving medical treatment at Southampton General Hospital. He was permitted to leave the hospital for short periods of time and is dependent on a battery-operated feeding tube.
A few days ago, his parents took Aysha from the hospital and left the country. Doctors now assume that the battery upon the feeding tube has run out and that, as a result, Aysha will not survive much longer.
As of yesterday, a warrant was issued for his parents arrest and there is a European manhunt out to find the family of 9.
As important and life-changing it is that Aysha is found and put back into the care of medical professionals, you can't help but try to understand why Aysha's parents took him away.
Life in hospital is far from normal. It must put a huge amount of pressure upon families to find strength, to find hope and to believe that everything is alright. Though I imagine that doctors and nurses do have 'training' in person-ability when it comes to the emotional effects of illness, their primary concern is with curing, prolonging or facilitating life.
A couple of days ago, the family was found in Spain. And now, something more damaging than a European manhunt takes place.
It absolutely breaks my heart to see Aysha's parents being pushed in the back of a police van on the way to court. It feels cold. As though no one has any concern for how the parents might be feeling. I understand the importance of upholding the law, but these two people are being made into a media spectacle.
They are being taken away from their son who is ill and needs their support. It's most likely that the trial will only prolong the amount of time that they are unable to spend with their son and put an even larger toll on their emotional well being.
I realise, however, that these parents risked their child's life. But it wasn't out of malice or because they were cruel. It was, most probably, because they loved him and wanted things to be normal.
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