Protesters gathered outside the Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool on Thursday, April 11, following a court ruling that doctors could stop treating Alfie Evans, a terminally ill toddler on life support, against the wishes of the parents.

The child’s father, Tom Evans, livestreamed this video saying he had a right to remove his son from the hospital and to continue his treatment. Evans said he had been warned that he would be charged with assault if he tried to remove the boy from the hospital.

In the video, Evans shows documentation on a Christian Legal Centre letterhead, which he says he has signed in order to remove a duty of care towards his son from the hospital. He says the family wants to move Alfie and has organised a respirator and an air ambulance to do so.

The Christian Legal Centre represented the family in court, according to Christian
Concern, a UK-based Christian advocacy group. In a statement, Christian Concern said three European hospitals had offered to “admit Alfie and help to diagnose him”.

The 23-month-old boy has been in a coma for more than a year and has a degenerative neurological condition that has not been definitively identified, local media said. The BBC reported a court had ruled on Wednesday that doctors could withdraw life support.

In the video, Evans called on people to gather outside the hospital in protest but to stay off the hospital grounds.

Merseyside Police said they were monitoring peaceful protests but that access to the hospital was disrupted. Credit: Kate James/Alfies Army Official via Storyful