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The European Court of Human Rights has ordered the British Government to keep a severely ill baby on life support while his fate is decided.
The parents of 10-month-old Charlie Gard want to take him to the United States for experimental treatment but his doctors and independent experts in the UK think it would be useless and they insist the child should be allowed to die.
Charlie's father, Chris Gard, said he and Charlie's mother, Connie Yates, would not give up.
"While he's still fighting, we're still fighting, we've said that from the very beginning," Mr Gard said.
"And he has fought so hard to still be here, and he's still fighting."
Parents versus hospital
Baby Charlie suffers from a rare genetic disease called mitochondrial depletion syndrome, and is on life support at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
Specialists say the baby has irreversible brain damage.
Charlie's parents are fighting to take their son to undergo nucleoside bypass therapy in the US.
They've raised about $2.2 million so far to pay for doctors' bills.
UK doctors considered the treatment, but said it was experimental and would not help.
Charlie's father told the BBC Great Ormond Street Hospital was basically keeping his son "a prisoner".
"Our parental rights have been completely stripped — the minute we took him in there, in hindsight, we lost him," Chris Gard said.
"When we got the appeal papers it says Connie Yates and Chris Gard versus Great Ormond St Hospital and Charlie Gard—and yet he's our son.
"That broke my heart when I saw that, because how can that be right?"
Appealing to the human rights court
British courts have ruled in favour of switching off life support to allow Charlie to die.
Bioethicist Professor John Harris from King's College London said three sets of judges and independent experts had all taken the same view.
"This is one of the tragedies of human existence, that life can become painful and burdensome … that has become the case with Charlie," Professor Harris said.
Charlie's parents have taken the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and a seven-judge panel has ruled the baby should be treated for another six days while they make their decision.
They insist the state should not have the power to over-ride decisions they have made about their child's care.
"If we don't get this opportunity, he's going to die," Charlie's mother said.
"And even if it doesn't work, which I think it will, we know that we've done everything that we can."
Topics: rights, family-and-children, child-health-and-behaviour, united-kingdom
First posted