The parents of Indi Grégory, a child suffering from a terminal illness, opposed doctors’ decision to stop the treatment that was keeping him alive. However, a UK Court of Appeal decision last week deemed continued care “dangerous”.
Seriously ill British baby Indi Gregory, who was in the middle of a legal battle between his parents and carers in the UK, died on Monday after the treatment keeping him alive was stopped, his family announced.
Care for the little girl, who is eight months old and has a terminal illness, was paused on Sunday after Britain’s Court of Appeal made a final ruling on Friday that it was “too dangerous” to continue outside hospital due to “complications.”
“Shame” and “anger” of the parents
“Indi’s life ended at 1:45 a.m. (local time and GMT, editor’s note). Claire (her mother) and I are angry, ashamed and heartbroken,” her father Dean Gregory said in a statement.
The NHS, Britain’s public health service, “and the courts not only deprived her of the opportunity to live longer, but they also deprived her of the dignity to die in the home of the family to which she belonged,” she said.
Indi Gregory’s parents had been fighting for several months against British doctors who recommended interrupting care to keep their baby alive, believing further treatment would be futile and painful.
There is no treatment for mitochondrial diseases, which are genetic and prevent the body’s cells from producing energy.
In a final hearing on Friday, the courts decided that the treatment should be ended at a medical location and not at the parents’ home as desired. The little girl was then transferred to a hospice.
A case that had people talking all the way to Rome
The matter took a diplomatic turn when Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – whose far-right party promotes traditional Catholic family values - intervened directly and granted the baby Italian citizenship at the last minute.
A Vatican hospital had actually offered to continue treating the little girl. But the English Supreme Court ruled that Rome’s intervention did not change previous decisions.
“We did everything we could, everything that was possible. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough. Have a nice trip, little Indi,” Giorgia Meloni responded to X (ex-Twitter) on Monday.