‘I knew that if I stepped out, they might remove her tubes’

3 August 2020

Shocking police body-camera footage has revealed the brutal arrest of a father for refusing to leave the bedside of his critically ill daughter, after doctors announced life-saving treatment would be withdrawn without the family’s consent.

The arrest led to Dr Rashid Abbasi – a long serving NHS respiratory consultant – having a heart attack as four police officers took him to the ground outside his daughter’s hospital room.

Dr Rashid Abbasi speaks to BBC Radio 4 about his experience and the hospital’s handling of his daughter’s care. “There was a determination from the healthcare team,” he says, “that she [their daughter] was set up to fail extubation … we were just doing what any normal parent would do.”

3 August 2020
BBC Radio 4

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