It is impossible to meet Rome's
request to move 11-month-old terminally ill Charlie Gard to the
Bambino Gesù Hospital, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told
Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano Wednesday.
Over the phone, Alfano raised the case and reiterated the
Vatican kids' hospital's offer, the foreign ministry said.
Johnson expressed gratitude and appreciation for the Italian
offer but explained that legal reasons prevent Britain from
meeting it.
Charlie's mother Connie Yates on Tuesday phoned the Bambino
Gesu' and was "very determined" to see if there was a chance of
treating the boy, hospital president Mariella Enoc said - but
Great Ormond Street said it could not move the boy from London
to Rome for legal reasons.
Enoc said this was "sad" but "our doctors and scientists are
still looking into the possibility".
Enoc said Yates "appears set to stop at nothing" after a
British court ordered her son's treatment to be
stopped.
The Bambino Gesu' offered to help Yates and her husband Chris
Gard after Pope Francis said treatment should be provided "until
the end".
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on Tuesday
said the pope had "full confidence" in the Bambino Gesu'
management.
Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin said at the presentation of
the hospital's annual report Tuesday that its "willingness to
welcome Charlie is a mark of your vocation and what you are.
It's certainly good news for those parents".
US President Donald Trump has also offered to help and on
Tuesday the Sun reported an unnamed US hospital was ready to
treat him free of charge.
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