Heidi and Bo Trawel live in Tønder in southwestern Denmark.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the couple must drive for two and a half hours each way to visit their dying son, Marco Trawel (1).
Half a year ago he was diagnosed with the serious and very rare disease Leighs syndrom, which is a serious progressive brain disease.
There is no treatment for the disease, and according to Heidi Trawel it is only a matter of weeks or months before he dies.
Marco is admitted to Strandbakkehuset at Hospice Djursland in Djursland, where he will spend his last days, writes Danish BT, who first mentioned the case.
Heidi and Bo are only allowed to visit the boy four and a half hours a week.
– Every time the phone rings, we are afraid of what the message is, she says to Dagbladet.
The police will have to shell out 26 million after this
Great attention
Heidi Trawel and her husband have for several months tried to be allowed to be hospitalized with their son the last time he has left, but to no avail.
– We are fighting a tough battle, says Heidi Trawel to Dagbladet.
The case is now receiving a lot of attention in the Danish media, and has been mentioned in, among other things TV 2 Fyn, BT and Extra Bladet.
KOS: Heidi Trawel enjoys Marco at the hospice in Djursland. Photo: Private
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– Directly vicious
Heidi and Bo Trawel are not allowed to be hospitalized with Marco because he has lived with a foster family since he was two months old.
Faaborg-Midtfyn municipality believes that Heidi and Bo Trawel are not competent to be full-time parents.
Therefore, it is the foster family that has been hospitalized together with little Marco.
SERIOUSLY ILL: Little Marco needs care around the clock, and has only a short time left to live. Photo: Private
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Heidi also has two other sons who are also placed with foster families.
The municipality’s children and family department believes that Marco Trawel’s health, development and behavior would be “seriously threatened” if he lived with Heidi and Bo Trawel “due to the parents’ lack of competence in the parental role”.
Heidi Trawel completely disagrees with this, and says that it is “evil” that she and her husband are not allowed to be with the boy until he dies.
– The municipality will not admit the mistake they made by removing Marco, so they say and do a lot to not admit that they have made a mistake. What they are doing to us now, that we are not allowed to be hospitalized with Marco, is directly vicious, she says to Dagbladet.
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– Deeply unhappy situation
In an e-mail to Dagbladet, the social manager in Faaborg-Midtfyn municipality, Tina Wahl Halgreen, describes the whole thing as a “deeply unhappy” and “very tragic” situation.
– Our responsibility as a municipality is to ensure the best possible care, care and stability for a little boy who is incurably ill, she writes.
She says that the municipality works closely with the staff and doctors at the hospice, and that the municipality listens to the medical assessments that are taken.
She calls the case “both unhappy and complex”.
We as a municipality can neither want nor want to comment on the complexity of the case or on the specific circumstances that exist in the case. I can add that the National Board of Appeal has just issued its statement in the case, which supports the municipality’s decision in the case. We will continue to work on having a primary focus on Marco’s needs, but with regard to the parents’ needs, she concludes.
Rejected by the highest team
The National Board of Appeal is an administrative body under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration, which acts as the country’s highest appeal body.
They too have rejected the parents’ desire for more time with the boy.
The decision states that the parents “due to limited personal resources can not give Marco sufficient care and nursing in everyday life and ensure him the special treatment he needs”.
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– Directly vicious
The Danish People’s Party’s social spokesperson, Karina Adsbøl, has reacted strongly to Marco Trawel’s parents not being allowed to be hospitalized with him the last time he has left, and has involved Minister of Social Affairs and the Elderly Astrid Krag in the case.
– This is an incredibly important issue. It is important for this parent couple that they have the opportunity to spend time with their son at the hospice. I do not understand why you can not increase the time together so that they can spend more time with their son, Adsbøl said in July to Jutland West Coast.
Minister of Social Affairs and the Elderly Astrid Krag did not want to appear in an interview with the website, but wrote this in an e-mail:
– It is heartbreaking when a child is dying, and her situation (mother, journ.anm.) Seems very unhappy, she writes.
WORD BUTTON: Denmark’s Minister of Social Affairs and the Elderly Astrid Krag is criticized for not having done more for Heidi and Bo Trawel. Photo: AP
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She emphasized that she did not know the case in detail, but that she had registered that the municipality this summer increased the visitation time from half an hour three times a week, to one and a half hours three times a week.
She also refers to the National Board of Appeal.
– The National Board of Appeal is informed and can follow the case closely, and can of its own accord go in and make decisions about visitation in a specific case, she wrote.
The answer made Adsbøl look red.
– It is unfortunately incredible and deeply disappointing that the minister delivers such a bland answer, she said.
On Wednesday, the National Board of Appeal decided again that Heidi and Bo Trawel will not be allowed to be admitted with their son.
The National Board of Appeal does not wish to comment on the case to Dagbladet.
Went from the wife – expecting children
On borrowed time
Heidi Trawel says that she has received many messages of support after the case has been covered in the media.
– It is wonderful that there are so many who want to support us and follow us and our cause, which is so terrible, she says, and continues:
– It’s awful to see their child disappear that way. I think this is something all parents with sick children can understand, but we did not expect the enormous support we have received. It’s overwhelming.
SMILES: Marco likes to be caressed. Photo: Private
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When asked if Heidi Trawel thinks it is best for Marco that she and her father are admitted to the hospice with him, despite the fact that he has been removed from home, she answers this:
– The best thing for Marco is without a doubt that he has his parents there, she says.
– Expect nothing
On Thursday, Heidi and Bo Trawel were in a so-called status meeting with, among others, the municipality and the municipality’s chief physician, where further progress was discussed.
Increased visiting hours was not one of the topics, and Heidi Trawel is frustrated.
– I expect nothing. They will not change anything in our favor, she tells Dagbladet.
Heidi Trawel says that all she wants is to be hospitalized with her son for the short time he has left.
– It’s awful that we only get to see him for 1.5 hours every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We want to stay at the hospice with him. Then we can enjoy every moment with him, while he is here on borrowed time and before he gets his angel wings, she says.
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