Little Charlie Gard has reportedly been granted US citizenship by the Senate, so that he can travel to America to receive treatment. The decision may oblige Great Ormond Street hospital – where Charlie is on life support – to release the critically ill child so he can receive nucleoside therapy. Nebraska representative Jeff Fortenberry tweeted that an amendment had been passed "that grants permanent resident status to Charlie Gard and family so Charlie can get the medical treatment he needs".
Jeff Fortenberry confirmed that the US Senate has granted citizenship to Charlie Gard
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Charlie is thought to be one of 16 children in the world to have mitochondrial depletion syndrome, a condition which causes progressive muscle weakness and brain damage. He is being kept on life support at the children’s hospital amid a lengthy legal battle between his parents, who are fighting for him to receive therapy treatment, and the doctors, who have stated that it would be kinder to let him pass away.
Charlie's parents, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, are fighting to keep their son alive
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Earlier this week, an America doctor flew to London to examine Charlie as part of his parents' final attempt to persuade a Hugh Court judge that treatment could help their little boy. Dr Michio Hirano, a professor of neurology from Columbia University, is believed to have spent over five hours trying to convince doctors, along with an expert from a Vatican hospital in Rome. He told the High Court that nucleoside therapy has a ten per cent chance of improving Charlie's condition. Great Ormond Street has said it is for the court to decide the next steps regarding Charlie's future.