Plan B Forum

Police have launched a "major investigation" to find a five-year-old boy with a brain tumour, who was taken without consent from Southampton General Hospital by his parents.




Hampshire Constabulary said Ashya King needs constant medical care and there are "serious concerns" for his life.

It is believed his parents boarded a cross-Channel ferry from Portsmouth to Cherbourg at 16:00 BST on Thursday.

Police said he cannot communicate verbally and is immobile.

They said he is likely to be in a wheelchair or buggy and there are "serious concerns for his life" if he is not found today.

It is believed Ashya, who recently had surgery, is still in France with his parents and six siblings after arriving there at 20:00 local time last night.

He was removed from the hospital by his parents, 51-year-old Brett King and 45-year-old Naghemeh King, at 14:00 BST on Thursday.

Police are working with counterparts in France to activate their emergency child rescue alert procedures to find the family as soon as possible.

They were travelling in a grey coloured Hyundai I800 Style CRDI, registration KP60 HWK.

Det Supt Dick Pearson, of Hampshire Constabulary, said: "If we do not locate Ashya today there are serious concerns for his life.

"He is receiving constant medical care within the UK due to recent surgery and ongoing medical issues. Without this specialist 24 hour care, Ashya is at risk of additional health complications which place him at substantial risk.

"He needs to be taken to a medical facility for his urgent health requirements as soon as he is located."

Police have launched a social media appeal and are urging people to share it, particularly with friends or relatives in France and bordering countries.

It has also been confirmed the family are Jehovah's Witnesses, but there is no suggestion this is why he was taken.

A five-year-old boy with a brain tumour whose parents removed him from hospital against medical consent has been found.

Ashya King was located in Spain and that his mother and father were being questioned by local police, Hampshire Police confirmed.

Gob wrote:

Ashya King was located in Spain and that his mother and father were being questioned by local police

In the UK, the case has received widespread media attention, initially focused on concerns for Ashya’s immediate health.

Following assurances by his family in videos posted on YouTube that he is being cared for properly, the concern shifted to sympathy for the family’s plight and anger at their pursuit by the police.
Echoing remarks made on social media, the boy’s grandmother said the

“Of course, I am sure that every parent wants to do the best for their child,” his spokesman said.

Brett King, 51, wants his son to undergo proton beam therapy, an alternative to radiotherapy. He was not offered proton beam therapy by Britain’s state-run National Health Service.

In a video filmed shortly before his arrest, King said that because he kept raising concerns about his son’s treatment he was threatened with a court order that could have denied him and his wife access to their son in hospital.

“We couldn’t take it any more,” he said of his decision to remove his son from the hospital.

British police issued a European arrest warrant on the grounds of “child neglect” but it is not clear what, if anything, the Kings could be charged with on their return to Britain. — AFP

Gob wrote:a) Loopy?
b) Hippies?
c) Cultists?
d) Jehovah's wobblers?
e) A combintaion of two or more of the above?

In 2013 the British government announced that £250 million had been budgeted to establish two centers for advanced radiotherapy, to open in 2018 at the Christie Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester and University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. These would offer high-energy proton therapy, currently unavailable in the UK, as well as other types of advanced radiotherapy including intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and image guided radiotherapy (IGRT).[69] In 2014, only low-energy proton therapy was available in the UK, at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust in Merseyside. But NHS England has paid to have suitable cases treated abroad, mostly in the US. Such cases have risen from 18 in 2008 to 122 in 2013, 99 of whom were children. The cost to the National Health Service averaged around £100,000 per case.[70]

Sue U wrote:

Gob wrote:a) Loopy?
b) Hippies?
c) Cultists?
d) Jehovah's wobblers?
e) A combintaion of two or more of the above?

So in fact it appears to be "None of the above," despite best efforts to gin up the hysteria.

Gob wrote: Ermmm Sue... They are Jehovah's wobblers...

Sue U wrote:

Gob wrote: Ermmm Sue... They are Jehovah's wobblers...

But it's evidently irrelevant to the story.

Gob wrote:

Sue U wrote:

Gob wrote: Ermmm Sue... They are Jehovah's wobblers...

But it's evidently irrelevant to the story.

The relevance is the raised level of concern that their religions view on medical procedures, and their removal against advice of the kid.