To solve the dispute, the matter went before the Court of Protection, the U.K.’s legal body responsible for making financial or “welfare” decisions on behalf of those who can’t make decisions for themselves.
That court sided with the hospital system and cut off his nutrients and hydration.
RS’s sister and niece were allowed to visit him in the hospital to say their goodbyes on Christmas Day, one day after the hospital cut off nutrition and fluids, according to Christian Concern.
When the two women saw him, they were “astonished” at the improvement in his “awareness,” the advocacy group wrote, adding that “he appeared to recognize them and began to cry.”
The women immediately sought the counsel of Pullicino, the neurologist and South Wales-based priest.
Pullicino told the family in a letter to make an emergency application to the Court of Protection to restore nutrients and hydration to RS and to instruct Pullicino to make a video examination of RS, according to Christian Concern.
Pullicino watched three minutes of video to examine RS, according to one of the court decisions in the case.
In the letter to the family, Pullicino told them that RS showed “a clear emotional response to the presence of the family members” and that a “proper neurological assessment would require further observation over a period of time,” that court decision said.
In response to the family’s request, the Court of Protection ordered the temporary continuation of hydration and nutrition of RS pending the adjudication of the application given the new evidence, Christian Concern said.
The judge ruled against the family and wrote in his Jan. 31, 2020, decision that “it is not in his best interests for life-sustaining treatment to be given.”
Poland’s intervention
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Poland’s government also attempted to save the man’s life and arrange for a full examination, Christian Concern wrote.
The Polish government granted RS “diplomatic status” so its London-based embassy could gain access to him, according to the organization.
Additionally, a Polish court appointed RS’s sister in Poland to be his guardian and ordered RS’s return to the country for treatment.
The Plymouth hospital, with the backing of the Court of Protection, banned any Polish authorities from visiting RS, according to Christian Concern.
RS died on Jan. 26, 2021, from dehydration and starvation, according to the organization.
Complaint
Credit: Source link
