Doctors told to keep right-to-die case man alive

A French court has ordered doctors to switch life-support systems back on in the case of a 42-year-old quadriplegic man with severe brain damage who has been in a coma for a decade and whose care has divided a nation.

Doctors had earlier withdrawn treatment, nutrition, and hydration from Vincent Lambert, in line with the wishes of his wife and several members of his family and in compliance with rulings from lower courts that were satisfied nothing more could be done to improve his vegetative state, which followed a 2008 motorcycle accident.

But the man's parents, Pierre and Viviane Lambert, wanted their son to be kept alive and took the case to the Paris Court of Appeal, which ruled in their favor.

The dispute that divided the family and the nation has become a battleground for groups advocating for people's right to die, and for those wanting to protect the sanctity of life and the rights of people with disabilities.

"They were starting to eliminate Vincent!" his mother told Agence France-Presse after the appeal court made its ruling. "This is a very big victory. They are going to restore nutrition and give him drink. For once I am proud of the courts."

Vincent's wife and six of his eight siblings had insisted the most humane course of action would have been to let Vincent die under France's right-to-die legislation, which allows "passive" euthanasia for severely ill people and those with chronicinjuries and no chance of recovery.

Vincent's nephew, Francis, told reporters the resumption of treatment to keep him alive was "pure sadism by the medical-judicial system".

Pope Francis, leader of the pro-life Roman Catholic Church, had earlier called for Vincent to be kept alive.

He said: "Let us always safeguard life, God's gift, from its beginning until its natural end. Let us not give in to a throwaway culture."

At the weekend, Vincent's parents wrote an open letter to President Emmanuel Macron, urging him to intervene on their side but Macron said the earlier ruling to let Vincent die was made "after a constant dialogue between his doctors and his wife, who is his legal representative".

Lambert's wife, Rachel, told RTL radio that "to see him go" would have been "to see him as a freed man".

She said there is no way her husband would have wanted to stay alive under such conditions.

The divided family has been battling in the courts since 2014 over whether Vincent's life-support machine should be switched off. The case has been considered by several courts, including the European Court of Human Rights, and will now be reviewed by the United Nations committee on the rights of persons with disabilities.