Family flees to US after Canadian hospital allegedly threatens to unplug child from life support and harvest organs

A Canadian father has threatened Montreal Children's Hospital with an investigation after staff allegedly told him his "drowned" child would be unplugged from life support and have his organs harvested.

According to the unknown man, his child, Arthur, is now recovering — off ventilator — after one month in New Orleans, Louisiana's Ochsner Medical Center.

The "drowning" took place on October 8. It is unknown how the child was transported to the U.S. or his official diagnosis in Montreal.

"They said to us, he was good for garbage," said the father in a video published to X, adding his child was "over-drugged" in Montreal.

"They would harvest the organs and kill him, and they would unplug him as of November 29 — that's Quebec health-care system for you."

This isn't the first time a Quebec hospital has sparked controversy over stopping life support of a child.

In 2023, a Quebec court ruled doctors at Montreal's Sainte-Justine hospital could remove a breathing tube from a boy who had been in a coma since he fell into a pool, reported CBC.

The father, speaking from New Orleans, said he is gathering evidence to advance an investigation.

"They were refusing treatments from the most advanced doctors in the world," he said.

"They were calling Montreal Children's giving them things to do to improve the condition of our son — everything we asked for they refused in Montreal Children's, including simple things like increasing the oxygen to 30% twice a day for 45 to 60 minutes, which has proven to do to give amazing results at the medical department of Louisiana State University."

The man added, "We think we know it all in Canada — I'm telling you, some heads are gonna fall when I'm finished doing my investigation."

In the video posted to X, the child was seen leaving his intensive care unit room for another part of Ochsner Medical Center.

Staff were seen cheering the family and clapping as the boy's bed was wheeled down a hallway.

There is no current expansion of MAID to include infants or young children in Canada, and the minimum age for MAID remains 18, with no plans to change this as of recent updates.

Montreal Children's Hospital did not respond to a request for comment.