District judge grants more time for 10-month-old baby on life support
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Harris County district judge is giving a Houston family more time with their 10-month-old son, who's on life support after a near drowning. The family filed a lawsuit against Texas Children's Hospital claiming it would be wrong to allow doctors to remove Nick Torres from the equipment.
An emergency motion was filed in Harris County early Wednesday morning seeking court intervention. The judge ordered a review of the case by Friday, Oct. 2.
Torres nearly drowned last week and is currently in ICU at Texas Children's Hospital.
The baby was scheduled to undergo a brain activity test on Wednesday, but the family claimed doctors would remove the baby from life support if no activity was detected.
"Baby Nick needs a chance," said Kevin Acevedo with the Gonzalez Law Group in Houston, who is representing the Torres family. "The hospital is refusing to slow down the process that will lead them to unplug baby Nick from life support systems to keep him alive."
Acevedo said the baby inhaled water during the near-drowning incident and was first sent to a hospital in The Woodlands. He has since been transferred to Texas Children's Hospital, where Acevedo said his heart and lungs are both functioning.
He said the family is simply wishing for more time.
Eyewitness News reached out to Texas Children's Hospital for a response and received the following statement:
"While I can't provide specifics about an individual patient's case, what I can share is we know families in these types of situations are going through the unimaginable. Our hearts go out to every family that has a child in the hospital. Texas Children's strives to provide the most compassionate and appropriate care possible to every patient we serve."
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