I Would Have Fought for Alfie Like I Did for My Own

“Who’s that baby?” my five-year old asked. “His name is Alfie,” I said, showing her the picture on my phone. “He died today. He’s in Heaven now.” We blew kisses to our newest saint friend. I’ve been scrolling through my Facebook feed and seeing stories about Alfie, whose doctors and government wanted his health care to end against his parents wishes. Interspersed between those stories on my feed are ones from Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin, where a celebration is going on to support child cancer patients and the search for cures. It’s very familiar to me. My 11-year old daughter received treatment there from age birth to four and was declared cured of her cancer 7-years ago. I don’t know the medical particulars of Alfie’s case. I do know that Catholic bioethics does not require care that goes beyond a person’s ability to live on his or her own. But life is to be respected. For Catholics, it would be forbidden to withhold basic care, like food and water, to hasten death. To deny food and water is to deny Jesus Himself (Matthew 25:42). With my own child, my husband and I wanted everything that could be done to help her. We haggled over treatment plans and pain medicine and imaging and procedures. We would move Heaven and Earth for her. And Alfie’s parents tried to do the same. I joined in prayers of many around the world for Alfie and all the others who are denied care for various reasons. To care for the sick is to care for Jesus Himself (Matthew 25:39-40). And then I was heartbroken to learn Alfie passed this morning. But I take it as a sign the Lord heard the prayers and welcomed Alfie to Heaven even if he succumbed to what his parents said was the denial of care. Today is the Feast Day of Saint Giana Molla, another mom who did everything she could to save her child. Learning she had cancer, her doctors urged her to abort her preborn child. She declined, put her faith in God to save and gave birth anyway. Saint Giana died soon afterward and was canonized for her heroism. Heaven gained a little saint in Alfie. Maybe Saint Giana got to hold him next after Jesus. And Alfie’s parents don’t have their son, but they don’t stand alone either. I join many other parents of medically challenged kids to pray for them in their grief.