The parents of Terminally Ill UK baby, Charlie Gard, have agreed to let their son die. The heart-wrenching decision was made today, with parents Connie Yates and Chris Gard saying that their little 11-month-old's condition has gone beyond the point of return. The parents of baby Charlie have been legally fighting for the youngster's right to an experimental treatment in the U.S.A, as well as his right to have life support kept on. Charlie's doctors were arguing that the boy should be allowed to pass away in a dignified manner. The campaign has taken over social media and was backed by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and Pope Francis.

Charlie's parents believe that if he had received the experimental treatment, he could have lived a healthy and normal life.

Charlie Gard's fight to survive

Little Charlie Gard was born in London in the UK on the 4th of August 2016. He appeared to be developing normally but his parents became concerned in October 2016 when he did not seem to be putting on weight. They brought him to their local doctor who referred them to Great Ormond Street Hospital. At this point, Charlie was not breathing correctly and he had to have a machine assist him. It was then that he was diagnosed with a rare inherited medical condition called infantile onset encephalomyopathy mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, otherwise known as MDDS.

The condition causes gradually developing muscle weakness and brain damage. His parents were campaigning for Charlie to go to the U.S.A. for experimental treatment, which they believed could give him a chance of a normal life. The treatment would have been performed and monitored by Michio Hirano, a neurology professor at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

Too much time "wasted"

Charlie's parents released a statement earlier today saying that it was time to let their son go and that "Charlie did have a real chance of getting better. Now, we will never know what would have happened if he got treatment." Great Ormond Street Hospital said that doctors and experts had agreed around Christmas time that Charlie's condition was irreversible and that experimental treatment would not change anything.

According to the family's statement which was released earlier today, an American and Italian team were of the opinion that Charlie's condition could be treated but that too much time had gone by and as a result, too much damage had been done.

Charlie's father, Chris Gard, devastatingly told the public, "we are now going to spend our last precious moments with our son Charlie, who unfortunately won't make his first birthday in just under two weeks' time,"