Baby Isaiah May, October 24, 2009 – March 11, 2010

Source: The Vancouver Sun

Baby Isaiah May was allowed to die today, in the arms of his parents. The child was surrounded by 10 family members, including a grandmother who had traveled from Washington State.
Today was the date set for the next court appearance in the May’s attempt to keep their child alive. In statements after last month’s legal proceedings, the parents suggested they might be planning to make this decision on their own, rather than leave it up to the courts. And that’s what happened today. The court appearance was canceled.

The drawn out legal procedure allowed the Mays to keep their child alive long enough to determine, to their satisfaction, that he would never recover from the injury he suffered at birth. His umbilical cord became wrapped around his neck during Rebecka May’s 40-hour labor, depriving the baby of oxygen. These four and a half months that Baby Isaiah has been alive have given his parents additional time to make peace with this tragedy.

“We have set our tiny miracle free”

The press was informed of the May’s decision by their lawyer, Rosanna Saccomani, who included this statement from the parents.

On October 24th, 2009, our beautiful son, Isaiah James May, arrived into the world, and into our lives.
As all parents, we had looked forward to this moment with great anticipation.
And notwithstanding the events surrounding his birth, we held out hope that there would come a time when we might see his smile and hear his laugh.
Over these last four months, we have cherished every moment with our son. We have marveled at the perfection of his hands and feet and face… at the color of his eyes and the shade of his hair. We have wondered who he most resembled.
All along it was our hope that Isaiah’s condition would brighten and improve. It has not. The decision that has now been made may be incomprehensible. But it has been made knowing that we did everything possible to find meaningful answers to our questions and that all reasonable alternatives were fully explored and carefully considered.
In the dire circumstances of Isaiah’s condition, who is to say whether a long or a short life would offer and assure our son greater dignity.
We very much believe that life is a gift from God and that our son’s inherent value and worth as a human being is not diminished by the number of days recorded in this world.
Isaiah has reminded all of us once again that life is very precious and fragile. Isaiah has been a blessing to us and his spirit will always be in our hearts. We will never forget the miracle of his birth, the Christmas spent together — and the early spring day when we said our goodbyes.
We will always cherish our son and the gift of time with him. …
We have set our tiny miracle free and he is now home in the arms of the angels.

The baby “was not in any distress”

Baby Isaiah was examined by Dr. Richard Taylor, an independent neonatologist, who concluded that the child would never recover from his injury. The May’s hopes had been raised by the movement of Baby Isaiah’s legs, but Dr. Taylor explained that this movement was not initiated by the brain. An excerpt from his statement:

“When I examined Isaiah, I confirmed that he did have movements of his trunk and limbs, as witnessed by his parents. He had gained weight since his birth and had bodily functions as they had reported. He was not in any distress. But on testing the nerves entering and leaving his brain, I confirmed that his reflexes were all completely absent. He was also unable to breathe for himself without airway and ventilator support.”
The doctor went on to say following his examination, and consultations with other specialists, he advised the May family that he believed the boy would never recover and that his body movements were likely due to activity of his spinal cord.
“He would remain ventilator dependent for the duration of his life. As Isaiah would never recover, we agreed that this degree of life support was no longer appropriate.”

Here is Dr. Taylor’s complete statement.

When it comes to end-of-life decisions, we should never rush

The May’s lawyer commented on the importance of allowing parents adequate time to make such an important decision:

I very much consider it a privilege to have represented the Mays in this journey,” Saccomani said. “They are wonderful people. They are mature beyond their years … I think they conducted themselves with grace and dignity throughout this whole process. …
They felt rushed at the beginning and when it comes to end-of-life decisions, we should never rush these. … They needed that extra time and they were given that extra time.

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