WINDSOR, Ont. — The family of an infant suffering from a terminal neurological disorder claims that the London Health Sciences Centre has increased security after the family refused to comply with a court order to consent to the baby being taken off of his breathing tube. The family wants the baby to receive a tracheotomy so that he can breathe on his own and be brought home to die.
According to Moe Maraachli, the father of 13-month-old Joseph, hospital security guards have refused to leave him alone in the room with his child, The Vancouver Sun reports. Maraachli told the news source that when he moves out of a security guard’s line of sight, the guard will follow him.
A spokesperson for the hospital said she was not aware of an increase in security and that 24-hour monitoring was standard in the intensive care pediatric unit.
The Maraachli family intends to have Joseph transferred to another hospital – perhaps in Michigan – so that a tracheotomy can be performed. Meanwhile, the hospital is now seeking the consent to remove Joseph’s breathing tube from Ontario’s Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee.
