The father of a clinically dead woman in her 20s who is being kept alive for the sake of her unborn baby has appealed to the court to let them end her life support.
The woman was admitted to hospital on November 27th after becoming unwell with headaches and vomiting and on November 29th, she had a fall in a bathroom before taking a very severe turn.
According to the Irish Times, she was found to be unresponsive and was later sent for a CT scan, with her family being informed that she had passed away.
The woman was pregnant at the time of her admission and under the eighth amendment of the Irish Constitution, she must be kept alive while a foetal heartbeat is still present.
It would take another 32 weeks for the foetus to become viable and her family have now taken a court action in the hopes of gaining permission to remove their daughter from life support.
“My daughter is dead, the chances of the foetus surviving are minimal we have been told. I want her to have dignity and be put to rest,” he told the High Court today.
The woman’s appearance is said to have changed significantly in recent times, with her torso “displaying considerable puffiness” and she has suffered from several infections. She is receiving a ventilator, as well as hormonal, nutritional and anti-infection supports.
The woman’s partner and the rest of her family are said to be “united” in their wish to let her go to rest.
Intensive care medicine specialist Dr Brian Marsh told the court that in the view of medical science the woman is “a corpse” and he was very concerned that “should the life support continue, the situation would very quickly become unsustainable”.
“I don’t believe this unborn can survive,” he said.
The woman has a number of other young children who have been told the nurses “are looking after Mummy until the angels come”.
A decision on the case is due on St Stephen’s Day.
