11/13/2023 1:35 pm (current 11/13/2023 1:35 pm)
Indi Gregory, Claire Staniforth and Dean Gregory ©AFP, AP
Eight-month-old Indi Gregory, who suffered from a rare mitochondrial disease, died on Monday. Her case sparked a legal and medical debate that reached Italy and the Vatican.
Indi Gregory suffered from a genetic metabolic disorder called mitochondrial disease, which affects the nervous and muscular systems, deprives the body of energy and leads to progressive brain damage. She was on life support, according to a hearing at the High Court in London.
His tragic fate began when the London Court of Appeal ruled that life support could only be stopped in a clinic or hospice. “My daughter died, my life ended at 1:45 am today. My wife Clare and I are angry, heartbroken and ashamed,” said Dean Gregory, Indi’s father. “The British health service and the courts not only took away Indi’s chance at life, but also her dignity to die in her own home. They managed to take away Indi’s body and dignity, but they can’t take away her soul,” said her father.
Medical ethics versus parental hope
The court ruled on November 10, 2023, on the recommendation of doctors in Nottingham, that life support for Indi should be withdrawn as it was futile and painful for the child. Judge Rupert Jackson said the girl, who was born in February, had been on life support since early September. The treatment causes Indi “significant pain” every day. She shows no interaction with her environment.
International support and papal prayer
To find alternative treatment options for Indi, the parents also looked abroad. The government in Rome granted Italian citizenship to the terminally ill British baby on November 1, 2023. The decision was intended to help the eight-month-old girl’s parents transfer her from Britain to Italy and prolong her life. “They say there is not much hope for little Indi, but until the end I will do everything to defend her life,” said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the online platform Facebook on November 6, 2023. Her goal is to “defend the Their mother and father have the right to do whatever they can for them.”
Pope Francis also participated and prayed for the girl and her family. However, a British court ruled last week that the baby could not be transferred to Italy. There was no evidence that experimental treatments would improve Indi’s quality of life, she said. Instead, a transfer could increase “pain and suffering.”
Goodbye in a madhouse
Indi Gregory ended up dying in a hospice after life support was withdrawn on Sunday. “Pope Francis embraces the family of little Indi Gregory, her father and mother, prays for them and directs his thoughts to all the children who, at these times, throughout the world, suffer pain or risk their lives because of the disease and war.” shared Matteo Bruni, head of the Holy See Press Office,