Edmonton baby to stay on ventilator, court rules
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 | 7:51 PM MT
CBC News
Related
Internal Links
Isaac and Rebecka May speak to reporters outside the courthouse in Edmonton Tuesday after a judge ordered the Stollery Childrens' Hospital to keep their son, Isaiah, on a ventilator. (CBC) An Alberta Court of Queen's Bench justice has ordered an Edmonton hospital not to remove a ventilator that is keeping a three-month-old infant alive until a court hearing can be held on his medical condition.
Physicians at the Stollery Childrens' Hospital had planned to take Isaiah May off life support on Wednesday because they believe he has no chance of recovering from brain damage he suffered at birth. But his parents, Rebecka and Isaac May of Rocky Mountain House, Alta., went before a judge on Tuesday seeking a 90-day injunction preventing the hospital from removing the ventilator.
The judge ordered the hospital to maintain the status quo until a full hearing can be held on the baby's care. The lawyer for the physicians did not object to keeping Isaiah on a ventilator until that hearing takes place.
The lawyers for both sides will appear before Justice Michelle Crighton on Jan. 27 to say whether both sides have agreed on an independent expert to assess the baby's condition.
Isaiah May has been in the neonatal intensive care unit since he was transferred to the Stollery Childrens' Hospital in Edmonton after his birth in October. (Submitted photo) "It's been very stressful. It's been very hard and very challenging. But every time I hold my son and I look in his eyes, it gives me the strength to face another day," Rebecka May said to reporters outside the Edmonton courthouse.
Isaiah May was deprived of oxygen at birth after the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. Doctors have determined he has suffered irreversible brain damage and there is no chance he will recover.
In a letter dated Jan. 13, the clinical director for the neonatal intensive care unit told the Mays that Isaiah's physicians believe that removing the child from the ventilator is medically reasonable, ethically responsible and appropriate.
But the Mays hope that someone might be able to help Isaiah.
"We wouldn't let this go on forever but right now … we want to seek other medical attention and do what's best for Isaiah right now," Isaac May said.
Rebecka May said her son is improving and has already proved the medical experts wrong a number of times.
"He is doing everything they said that he would not do. Every day he does something new. So that helps us to fight," she said. "His eyes dilate. He opens his eyes. He moves his limbs. He's growing. He's gaining weight. He's living. They told us he would never do any of that."
Both sides will now try to find an independent medical expert to assess Isaiah's condition. Another hearing could be held to discuss whether the ventilator should be removed, depending on the outcome of that assessment.
Share Tools
Latest Edmonton News Headlines
- Police chief apologizes to former employee over racism
- Edmonton's chief of police has apologized to one of the department's former employees who says the racist behaviour of her boss and colleagues forced her to leave her job. more »
- Edmonton trustees named marshals of gay pride parade

- Trustees from the Edmonton Public School Board will be the honorary marshals at this year's gay pride parade. more »
- ATV collision kills teen near Hinton
- An 18-year-old male died Thursday after he was thrown from his all-terrain vehicle near Hinton. more »
- Alberta readies 60 new ambulances for service
- Around 60 new ambulances will soon be whizzing across the province thanks to a large purchase by Alberta Health Services. more »
Top News Headlines
- Attack on Syrian villages deadliest yet, activists say
- More than 90 people have been killed by regime forces in a district of central Syria, activists say, and as many as half the victims may have been children. more »
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges

- The estranged partner of a young mother who was stabbed to death along with her parents at their home in Aylmer, Que., has been charged with first-degree murder Friday. more »
- Severe storm in Quebec leaves damage in its wake
- Trees were uprooted, roofs damaged and windows shattered as severe thunderstorms, and possibly a tornado, rattled through southwestern Quebec Friday night. more »
- The risks and responsibilities of taking on Mt. Everest

- The deaths of five climbers last weekend on Mt. Everest, with more summits underway this weekend, fuels the debate about the risks and responsibilities of high altitude climbing. more »
- Former MLA questions need for Alberta Party
- Police chief apologizes to former employee over racism
- ATV collision kills teen near Hinton
- Edmonton trustees named marshals of gay pride parade
- Oil spill clean-up underway in northern Alberta
- Alberta readies 60 new ambulances for service
- Edmonton toddler killed by SUV in parking lot
- Hobbema youth dispel stereotypes with photography
- Garlic mustard spreading in Mill Creek Ravine

