THE father of Ashya King has claimed the family felt unable to tell UK doctors their feelings because they feared he would be taken into care.
Brett King said that doctors at Southampton General Hospital had told him they would "take my son away" if he questioned them over the five-year-old's treatment for brain cancer.
It comes as the chief executive of the NHS Trust which runs the hospital, Fiona Dalton, revealed staff in its oncology unit had received abuse from the public and their phone lines had been "overwhelmed" with calls.
Mr King, 51, and his wife Naghmeh, 45, triggered an international police pursuit when they removed Ashya from hospital without doctors' permission to take him to the Czech Republic for proton therapy.
Ashya is now due for treatment at the Proton Therapy Centre Czech in Prague after a legal battle over his care saw his parents arrested in Spain and separated from him for several days.
Speaking about doctors in the UK, Mr King said: "They said to me if I question anything and ask questions as a father, they would take my son away from me. Not just for the treatment but until he was 16.
"So I said 'I wouldn't be able to see my son for 11 years'. I said to my wife 'this is something so serious that our son could be taken away until he is 16'.
"Eleven years without us, he wouldn't know his parents, his brothers, his sisters or anyone.
"We couldn't question them any more. We couldn't let them know our feelings because one mistake on our side and they'd take him away."
The hospital did not comment, but the paper quoted a source who refuted the allegation.
Ms Dalton blogged: "I know everyone shares my relief that Ashya is now in Prague Motol Hospital, where he will be able to receive the treatment that he needs." .
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