Posted on 10/29/2003 6:25:26 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
Doctors will apply to the High Court to turn off the life-support of a London student who has been in a coma since an Israeli soldier shot him.
Tom Hurndall, 22, has been in a permanent vegetative state for more than six months after being shot in the head while taking pictures with a human shield group in the West Bank.
His family, from north London, have been told there is no hope of him recovering.
Specialists caring for the photography student at the Royal Hospital for Neurodisability, in Putney, are now expected to ask judges for permission to withdraw life-support, according to Carl Arrindall, a close family friend.
He said there is now "no question" about whether it is right to let Mr Hurndall die, because his quality of life is so low.
Mr Hurndall's solicitor father, Anthony, mother Jocelyn, a teacher, and the couple's other children Sophie, 24, Billy, 18, and Freddie, 13, hope to bring him home for his final hours.
Mr Arrindall said: "They accept that in Tom's own journals he made it clear if anything like this happened he would not want to be kept alive. They are grateful he made that statement and they regard it as a living will.
"There has been an ongoing protracted process of the medical assessment of Tom and the specialists' conclusion is that he is in a vegetative state, and the quality of life is so low there is a question as to whether it is right to keep him like that for any protracted period of time.
"The legal process does involve consulting with the family but does not require them to agree with the decision. The decision is made by the specialists.
"The question is, 'is there any just cause for keeping him alive?
"The family have come to terms with this over many months. If possible they will bring him home if a decision is finally agreed by the court."
Today, however, Mr Hurndall's mother made it clear the family was uncomfortable with the doctors' decision and said: "Maybe it does not have to happen.
"There is a question about if he should die. I'm not absolutely convinced if he feels pain, and cannot bear it if he is semi-aware."
Mr Hurndall, a Manchester Metropolitan University student, was shot on 11 April while observing and recording the work of a Palestinian peace group in Gaza and the activities of the Israeli army.
He had previously served as a human shield in Iraq. He joined the International Solidarity Movement, and agreed to accompany them to Rafah, a town on the border between Gaza and Egypt at the southern end of the Gaza Strip. Rafah is caught between the Israeli army and Palestinian fighters.
His family say they are committed to finding the truth and to obtaining justice for him. They are campaigning for Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to conduct a full inquiry and ensure those responsible for the shooting are prosecuted.
They believe Mr Hurndall was deliberately shot by the Israeli army because of his work photographing their activities on the West Bank.
Mr Hurndall's sister Sophie said her brother had documented the shootings of many civilians by soldiers and was trying to help a group of children when he was shot.
She said: "He saw machinegun fire being directed at a mound of earth on which about 20 children were playing.
"Most of the children fled but three young children were too scared to move - two girls and a boy aged between five and eight.
"Tom walked forward and picked up the little boy, named Salem Baroum. Having brought Salem back to safety he returned for the second child. Tom was shot in the head by a single sniper as he leaned forward to pick up a little girl."
The Israeli army has agreed to carry out a military police inquiry.
Mr Hurndall's family have set up a website at www.tomhurndall.co.uk
I would never condemn Stalin's offspring per se, but if they were in agreement with their father then yes, I would condemn them.
Tom Hurndall, 22
Amazingly misleading headline by This is London; is there really anywhere in the world that a 22 year old is a “boy” and not a man?
If the measurements and accounts given are accurate, it is difficult to believe that a sniper would have truly believed he was shooting an armed person from 150 meters.
But I suppose much can happen in the heat of the moment.
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