ST. LOUIS, March 22 (UPI) -- Doctors in St. Louis say they have performed a tracheotomy on a terminally ill Canadian infant that will eventually allow his parents to take him home to die.
The decision to perform the "medically appropriate" tracheotomy came a week after the parents of Joseph Maraachli brought him to Cardinal Glennon Hospital from Canada where doctors declined to perform the operation, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Tuesday.
Joseph was born with Leigh syndrome, a genetic neurological disease that left him in a persistent vegetative state.
"It is our hope that this procedure will allow Joseph and his family the gift of a few more months together and that Joseph may be more comfortable with a permanent tracheotomy," a statement from the hospital said.
Joseph will stay at Cardinal Glennon for seven to 10 days before being transferred to another facility and eventually sent home to Windsor, Ontario. UPI
