Indi Gregory: Eight-month-old dies after parents lost legal battle to keep her on life support
LONDON, UK: An eight-month-old baby girl who was battling a critical illness has died after her parents lost a court battle to keep her on life support.
Indi Gregory was suffering from mitochondrial disease, Daily Mail reported. She died overnight after being taken off life support, a lawyer for the family confirmed on Monday, November 13, per Sky News.
Indi's father's statement
Her father Dean reportedly said, "Indi's life ended at 01.45 am. [Her mother] Claire and I are angry, heartbroken and ashamed. The NHS and the courts not only took away her chance to live a longer life, but they also took away Indi's dignity to pass away in the family home where she belonged."
As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “In mitochondrial diseases, the mitochondria cannot efficiently turn sugar and oxygen into energy, so the cells do not work correctly.”
Indi Gregory initially 'stopped breathing but recovered’
An organization named Christian Concern, which was supporting the toddler’s family, shared via a statement on Sunday, November 12, that Indi was shifted to a hospice from the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham despite her parents' desire to take her home.
The statement also mentioned, “It is understood that Indi was transferred from the hospital to an ambulance with a security escort."
“Indi was then transferred to a hospice without incident and was relaxed and slept during the journey,” it added. “At the hospice, she has had her life-support removed. Last night she stopped breathing but then recovered.”
The transfer happened after High Court judge Justice Peel issued his verdict saying limiting treatment would be right.
The judge reportedly claimed that the treatment was giving more pain to the little girl than doing good.
It was also reported that the little one’s parents — Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth — wanted to take her to a Rome hospital.
The Italian government gave her citizenship and the Bambino Gesu Hospital was ready to take Indi, who was born in February, for medical care.
But Justice Peel denied the request to move her to Italy and the Court of Appeal judges supported him.
Indi's dad's pleas
This came after Indi’s father, Dean, reportedly said last week, “We thank you from the bottom of our hearts and we see you as Indi's guardian angels."
“The compassion and love you have shown to try and help our daughter get the care she needs and the devotion you have for Indi make us so happy,” he continued.
The dad noted at the time, “But there is still an urgency to appeal to the British government to allow Indi to come to Italy before it is too late.”
“As a father, I have never asked or begged for anything in my life, but I am now begging the British government to please help prevent our daughter's life from being taken away,” Dean added.