Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Dad pledges to fight for terminally ill toddler

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The father of a terminally ill toddler transferred to a St. Louis hospital after an Ontario court ruled doctors could remove the breathing tube keeping the boy alive says he won't stop fighting for his son.

Thirteen-month-old Joseph Maraachli arrived at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital last weekend after the hospital agreed to treat him.

Joseph's doctors at an Ontario hospital, where he had been treated since October, determined that he was in a permanent vegetative state and that his condition was deteriorating. They planned to take him off of assisted breathing.

Moe Maraachli tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he just wants to take his son home "and let him breathe."

Hospital officials say Joseph probably will undergo throat surgery this week to connect him to a portable breathing machine.

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