Mother fights to keep son on life support

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DALLAS, May 30 (UPI) -- The mother of a 10-month-old boy is fighting the decision by Dallas' Children's Medical Center to turn off life support for Daniel Cullen II, a report said.

A Dallas judge will have a hearing Friday on Dixie Belcher's request to force the hospital to reverse its decision to remove breathing and feeding tubes keeping Cullen alive since he suffered reportedly irreversible brain damage April 4.

The hospital's ethics board made the decision under Texas' futile-care law.

"Something deep down inside is telling me not to unplug my 10-month-old," mother Dixie Belcher told the Dallas Morning News. "I know he's my little fighter, and he's got to pull through."

Belcher said her son, whom she calls "Fat Boy," responds to her voice even though he does not respond to hospital workers.

The toddler -- born prematurely with breathing problems -- was put in state custody after he was found in what authorities described as a crowded, dirty and cigarette smoke-filled apartment in Grand Prairie, Texas.