Cradling their newborn son in their arms, Charlie Gard’s parents have finally found happiness again.
Devastated by Charlie’s death and drained by their heart-breaking legal fight for his life, Connie Yates and Chris Gard feared they might never have another chance to be parents.
But the couple bravely decided to try for another child – and today they are ready to introduce Oliver Gard to the world.
Neither parent can take their eyes off Oliver, already known as Ollie, who was born on August 5 weighing 8lb 6oz.
His every gurgle, every expression holds them transfixed and they told how his arrival has finally helped them to heal.
Connie, 34, said: ‘It’s like we can smile again now and truly mean it, rather than just plastering on a smile to get through the day.’
Her fiancé Chris, 36, said: ‘Losing Charlie was like someone had thrown a hand grenade at us and our lives.
‘It felt like part of us died with him, like all our smiles had gone, and it was impossible to imagine we would really be happy again.
‘Ollie has lit up our lives. We are so, so lucky.’
Rewind three years and ‘lucky’ was the last word that would have come to mind.
Connie and Chris were caught at the centre of a heart-wrenching legal and medical fight over their beloved first child Charlie, who suffered from a rare genetic condition.
Charlie Matthew William Gard was born healthy on August 4, 2016, but became ill when he was two months old.
He was admitted to hospital in October that year, and remained in hospital for the remaining nine months of his life, until he was transferred to a hospice.
Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London said his condition was incurable and wanted to withdraw his life-support.
But Connie and Chris fought desperately to be allowed to take him to the US for experimental treatment and took their case to the High Court and the Supreme Court.
Tragically, as the case raged on Charlie’s body grew weaker and the couple were finally forced to concede that further treatment was no longer possible.
Charlie died in a hospice on July 28, 2017, just a week before his first birthday.
Their one-bedroom flat in Bedfont, south west London, is filled with mementoes of Charlie