http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/Long+fight+baby+Joseph+life+over/43
23190/story.html

Long fight for baby Joseph's life not over yet


.
Sonja Puzic, Postmedia News . Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011



Moe Maraachli believed it was the last weekend he would spend with his
infant son. 

He believed it would be the last few times he would change 13-month-old
Joseph, stroke his head and tell him how much he loves him. 

The Windsor [Ontario]  father thought it was over -- that he had exhausted
all options in his fight against doctors who wanted to take the dying child
off life support. But armed with a new lawyer and buoyed by supporters, Mr.
Maraachli defied a court order and his gut-wrenching, sleepless weekend
turned into guarded jubilation Monday as the fight for Joseph intensified
--and became more political. 

Joseph's breathing tube was not removed by 10 a.m. Monday at the Victoria
Hospital of the London Health Sciences Centre as expected. Instead, serious
negotiations, led by expert health care lawyer Mark Handelman, were taking
place to transfer the gravely ill baby to a Detroit hospital. Mr. Handelman
was retained by the family with help from Alex Schadenberg, executive
director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition who took a special interest
in Joseph's case. 

"I'm very excited. I feel like it's a real Family Day today," Mr. Maraachli
told reporters at a London hotel, flanked by Mr. Schadenberg. "God sent
angels for me to help me." 

Earlier in the morning, Mr. Maraachli greeted a handful of supporters --
some representing pro-life groups -- who braved the frigid temperatures to
protest outside the hospital with signs that read: "Save baby Joseph" and
"Family Day? Not for baby Joseph." 

The Save Baby Joseph Facebook group had swelled to more than 4,600 members
over the weekend. 

Mr. Maraachli and his wife, Sana Nader, lost their appeal before a Superior
Court judge last week to stop the removal of Joseph's breathing tube.
Justice Helen Rady upheld an earlier decision by the Consent and Capacity
Board of Ontario, an independent body, which ruled that Joseph's parents
must consent to the tube removal. 

In an interview Monday, Mr. Handelman-- who was a vice-chairman of the
Consent and Capacity Board -- said there has been a "misreading" of Judge
Rady's decision: It did not authorize the hospital to remove Joseph's
breathing tube at 10 a.m. It compelled Mr. Maraachli and Ms. Nader to give
their consent to have the tube removed. Without the consent of the parents
or other relatives, the hospital must get approval from the Office of the
Public Guardian and Trustee. That process can take days or weeks. 

Mr. Maraachli said his previous lawyer, Geoff Snow, who was retained through
Legal Aid, did not explain that to him. Mr. Snow also told the family there
were no grounds for another appeal. 

Mr. Maraachli said he is grateful for the people who have helped his family
over the weekend because "I know nothing about law here." 

Joseph is in a vegetative state, according to London specialists who have
been treating him since October, and will not recover. His parents have
accepted that, but refuse to let him die in hospital by choking after the
breathing tube is removed. 

They have been asking doctors to perform a tracheotomy so that Joseph can
live out his last days at home and die in peace. It is how they said goodbye
to a daughter nine years ago, who had the same condition as Joseph and died
six months after being released from the hospital. 

"I felt very clearly that this was a reasonable request that the family was
asking," Mr. Schadenberg told reporters. "So why did [the hospital] deny the
reasonable request? To me, that's the bigger question."

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