healthmedicinet

They and are thought to be heading for the Marbella area, on the Costa del
Sol.

Spanish police were on Saturday keeping watch outside a luxury holiday
apartment owned by the King family near the resort of Estepona, close to
Marbella.

Two Civil Guard patrol cars with two uniformed officers in each spent the day
parked outside the gated private estate overlooking the Mediterranean, where
Mr King and his wife own a first-floor flat.

A spokesman for Spain’s National Police, said: “We have received an alert
about the family and are actively trying to locate them. One of the areas we
are focusing on is the Costa del Sol because we know they own property there
and have friends in the area.”

Hampshire police said they now believe that Ashya’s family have been taking
steps to feed him since taking him from Southampton General Hospital on
Thursday.

However they emphasised that the child still needed urgent expert medical care.

Mr Shead said: “Health experts tell us with the proper medical care Ashya has
a good chance of survival, but he must get that professional care.”

He renewed his appeal for anyone with friends or family in Spain to help in
their search for Ashya, who was taken from Southampton General Hospital
without doctors’ approval seven days after an operation for a malignant
stage four tumour.

Police on both sides of the Channel are engaged in a desperate search for the
five-year-old boy, whose battery-operated feeding tube is thought to have
run out on Friday night. It can only be replaced by medical experts, leading
police to state that “time is running out” for the youngster.

Officers leading the hunt said they had “positive information” to suggest that
Ashya’s family may now be in Spain where they have “strong links” to the
Marbella area.

In a message on social media sites the force stated: “Do you have friends or
family living in Spain? Or own property in Spain? Please help spread our
appeal in this country. The King family could have crossed the border. They
are believed to have links there.”

Police have also translated their appeals for information about the family’s
whereabouts into Spanish and are now working closely with Spanish
authorities to find Ashya.

Police in Marbella have been liaising with officers in Hampshire.

The search widened considerably on Friday as Interpol sent out a missing
persons alert to each of its 190 member countries.

Officers from Hampshire are “working closely” with their French and Spanish
counterparts to urgently trace the family, using car number plate
recognition equipment and making inquiries at hotels, guesthouses and
motorway service stations along their possible routes on the continent.

The Telegraph revealed on Friday that the King family have business and family
connections to Spain, particularly around the Marbella area and it is now
thought they may have headed to the resort town.

Mr King is listed on the Linked In business networking site as a self employed
director dealing in property and real estate in the Marbella area.

According to his Facebook page, Ashya’s brother Naveed has several friends who
live in the Spanish resort, and neighbours at the family’s home have spoken
of the family planning to spend time at a villa in the country owned by Mrs
King’s parents.

Ashya King with his brother Naveed

It is thought the Kings may be heading to Spain to seek a second opinion on
their son’s condition in a desperate attempt to do all they can to save his
life.

A family friend claimed the Kings had fled the country because they refused to
accept that ‘nothing can be done’ for their dangerously ill son.

Katie Fletcher made her comment on the Hampshire Police Facebook page,
stating: “This is my mother’s friend, she has run away in desperation
because they cannot accept that there is nothing that can be done for their
son.

“They want to look for help abroad. Please don’t judge – they are a very sweet
loving family and I can only believe they are doing this because they want
to help their son.”

It emerged on Friday that vital time may have been lost after it was revealed
police were not alerted by hospital managers that the youngster was missing
until 8.35pm on Thursday, more than six hours after he had been taken by his
parents.

Mr Shead said: “It is vital that we find Ashya. Time is running out for this
little boy. We need to find him and we need to find him urgently.”

University Hospital Southampton Trust (UHS), which runs Southampton General
Hospital, said Ashya was a long term patient who was permitted to leave the
ward “under the supervision of his parents as part of his ongoing
rehabilitation”.

Staff contacted police “when the length of time he had been absent became a
cause of concern to staff” and attempts to contact the family had been
unsuccessful, a spokesman said.

Police said the six-and-a-half-hour gap between Ashya being taken from
hospital and police being called is “something we need to look at and needs
to be considered further down the line”.

In July, Naveed, 20, posted a moving video on YouTube in which he explained
that his brother had been diagnosed with a brain tumour.

In a poignant message to Ashya, he said: “Last night you were diagnosed with
cancer. We all were panicking for you. They’ve had to do an emergency
operation to get the fluids out of your brain.

“I haven’t slept anything really, I’ve been awake all night worrying. Today
Dad came back and said you were going to have an emergency operation in the
next 10-15 minutes.

“So I just want to say that we love you so much and everyone is sending their
love on Facebook.

“And we’re going to look back in 10 years’ time when you’re 15 and see that
everything that has changed for the better and just because they were bad at
one point doesn’t mean they will always be bad.”

Naveed also posted footage of a visit to his brother in hospital, having to
cut away after breaking down in tears.

On August 18 he posted an update on Facebook signed “King family”, saying
Ashya had been “progressing slowly but continuously with only minor problems
along the way”.

The post included several pictures, one showing Ashya with his mother and
another of a large stitched wound at the back of the boy’s head and neck.

Naveed wrote: “He (Ashya) is now able to swallow (only liquid things like
water and on odd occasions soft yogurt) but not chew or move his leaps
(sic). He can also close his eye lids but still struggles in moving his eyes
to look at people or things.

“He is still unable to talk to explain how he feels or what may be hurting him
on occasions. As a family we thank everyone who has taken their time in
prayer for Ashya to get better and also by the amazing gifts he has received
from those prayers!

“He is still far from being a normal child and still not out of the danger
zone of where minor issues could cause severe problems for his brain, so
please continue to pray for him to have the strength and to be able to
recuperate quickly!”

Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse blood transfusions on religious grounds but are
open to other medical procedures. A spokesman for the church confirmed
Ashya’s parents were members of the movement but said “there is absolutely
no indication, as far as we are aware, that their decision is in any way
motivated by any religious convictions”.

Mr Shead said Ashya had undergone “extensive surgery” and his last operation
was seven days ago. He said: “The information we have received from his
medical team at Southampton General Hospital is that he must continue to be
fed via a tube by someone with the relevant medical training. If he doesn’t
receive urgent medical care, or the wrong treatment is given, his condition
will become life-threatening.”

NHS guidelines say that when a child’s life is in danger, the doctor has the
right to do whatever is needed to save the child’s life. If a parent or
guardian fails to provide medical help for a child, or unreasonably refuse
to allow treatment, they can be prosecuted for neglect.

Police have released an image of Ashya being wheeled out of Southampton
General Hospital by his father yesterday, as well as pictures of his parents
and the type of vehicle they used to flee the UK. The family are travelling
in a grey-coloured Hyundai I800 Style CRDI, registration KP60 HWK.

Ashya is likely to be in a wheelchair or buggy, he cannot communicate verbally
and is immobile.

A spokesman for Brittany Ferries confirmed the family had declared they were
travelling with a child with “special medical needs” at the time of booking
their crossing.

Ashya’s grandmother Patricia last night urged his parents to return him to
Britain.

Mrs King said: “All I would say to Brett is please, bring him back. I thought
they were at the hospital – I had no idea they had gone anywhere. We have
all been in a terrible state over Ashya’s health – it’s been a dreadful time
for us all over the last month.”

She said of her son and daughter-in-law: “He’s the most caring and wonderful
father you could ever have. The kids love him. Naghemeh hadn’t left the
hospital at all. She had been there the whole time (Ashya) had been in there
– sleeps there and everything. She’s a wonderful mother. That’s her life.”

* Anyone with information about Ashya’s whereabouts should contact Hampshire
Constabulary on 101, quoting Operation Aquilion.