Hospital Yanks Indy Gregory’s Life Support Over Parents’ Objections After Court Rejects Plea to Let Her Live
A British hospital has withdrawn life support from tiny baby Indi Gregory over the objections of her parents after a court rejected their plea to let her live.
In a heartbreaking loss on Friday, a UK appeals court ruled that a hospital could continue to end Indi’s life-saving medical care despite her parents’ desperate efforts to get her to a hospital that would provide this.
As LifeNews reports, a Vatican hospital has stepped up and agreed to provide care for 8-month-old baby Indi Gregory, who a British court ruled could withdraw her life support even that his parents were fighting for his life. But, that was not enough for the girl’s parents to get the British appellate court to rule in their favor.
So, today, doctors are withdrawing life-support treatment from an 8-moth-old baby battling a rare mitochondrial disease.
A spokeswoman for Christian Concern, the pro-life legal group assisting the Gregory family, said life support had been withdrawn. He said Indi was transferred from Queen’s Medical Center to Nottinghamwhere he was treated, in a hospice.
In a statement released through the group, Indi’s father said she was “fighting hard”.
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Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Center, which is supporting the family, asked for prayers.
“Dean and Claire are by their beloved daughter Indi’s side, watching over her. We ask for your prayers for them,” he said.
Yesterday, Indi’s parents baptized her after a UK appeals court ruled that the hospital could take her off life support without their consent.
After that decision, Indi’s parents, who were not religious, decided to baptize their daughtersaying that they have seen “hell drag” on this whole show with the courts denying their daughter the care she needs and blocking their efforts to get Indi to an Italian hospital for the appropriate care and treatment.
“When I was on the court, I felt like Hell pulled me,” said Dean Gregory, Indi’s father. “I thought that if Hell existed, Heaven must exist as well.”
“It’s like the devil is there,” he said to one Italian newspaper. “I thought that if the devil exists, then God must also exist.”
“I have seen what hell is like and I want Indi to go to heaven.”
In fact, Dean said he decided to get baptized as well. “We want to be protected in this life, and go to heaven.”
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Dean praised the testimony of a Christian volunteer who visited Indi every day, and told him that baptism “opens the gates of Heaven.” He also noted the work of his legal team provided by the Christian Legal Center.
Indi suffers from a rare degenerative mitochondrial disease and is receiving life-sustaining treatment on a ventilator at the Queen’s Medical Center in Nottingham, England. But since the doctors have given up hope there is now a legal battle between them, their desire to remove him from life support and his parents’ desire to continue treatment.
A judge previously ruled that it was in the child’s “best interest” to take off life support. Indi’s parents appealed the decision but today the UK Court of Appeal dismissed their challenge in a far-reaching hearing on Friday.
“The grounds of appeal are completely without merit,” said Lord Justice Peter Jackson, delivering the decision. “Although this is a legal decision, it was taken with full awareness of the deeply sensitive question at the heart of the proceedings.”
The judges said Italy’s desire to take the little girl there for treatment under the terms of the Hague Convention was “totally delusional” and “not in the spirit of the convention.”
Jackson said the stay has now expired and that Indi’s life support will be taken off Saturday in a hospice setting.
Indi’s father condemned the decision.
Dean Gregory, said: “Claire and I are once again disgusted by another one-sided decision from the judges and the Trust. The whole world was watching and shocked at how we were treated.
“Claire and I have always wanted what is for the good of Indi. He has human rights and we want him to have the best treatment possible. If the UK doesn’t want to fund it, why can’t he go to Italy and receive the treatment and care offered by the wonderful Italian Prime Minister and government.
“This is like the latest kick in the teeth, and we will not give up fighting for our son’s chance to live until the end.”
The pro-life legal group Christian Concern, which represents the Gregory family, also condemned the decision.
“The decision was made despite Indi being granted Italian citizenship and yesterday her Italian guardian made an urgent application to the UK High Court calling on Mr Justice Robert Peel to give him jurisdiction over the case under Article 9 §2 of the 1996 Hague Convention,” it told LifeNews.
The group is still hoping to help Indi.
“It was also announced this afternoon that the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, has urgently written to the Lord Chancellor of the UK calling on the two countries to officially cooperate in facilitating the transfer of Indi to Rome under the Hague Convention,” it said. .
Prime Minister Meloni wrote to the Rt. Hon Alex Chalk outlining the urgent application made by Indi’s Italian guardian yesterday to the UK High Court.
The application called on Mr. Justice Robert Peel to transfer jurisdiction of the case to the Italian guardian under Article 9§2 of the 1996 Hague Convention.
The Italian consul in Manchester, Dr Matteo Corradini, in his capacity as guardianship judge for the 8-month-old, made the order with immediate effect because of the imminent danger to Indi’s life.
The urgent Italian guardian application follows Indi becoming an Italian citizen last week and her Italian guardian issuing a emergency measure recognizing the authority of the Italian courts in this case.
The Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome agreed to accept Indi for treatment and perform the correct ventricular outflow tract stent procedure presented by medical experts. The Italian government has offered to fund the treatment at no cost to the NHS or UK taxpayer.
Despite today’s decision and statements from the Court of Appeal judges, it is still unclear how the UK Courts will officially respond to the application made by Indi’s Italian guardian.
“For the hospital and the UK Courts to simply ignore the offer from the Italian government is disgraceful,” said father Dean Gregory. “I am begging the British government to allow Indi to go to Italy before it is too late. As a father, I have never asked or asked for anything in my life, but now I am pleading with the British government to please help to prevent our daughter’s life from leaving.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Center, called out British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a member of the Conservative Party, for not speaking out in Indi’s defense.
“What good reason is there to keep Indi here against her parents’ wishes when treatment is offered in Rome,” Williams said. “The developments show the difference in approach between the two countries when the Prime Minister of Italy went public with his support for Indi Gregory and the right of his parents to access treatment in Rome and the Prime The British Minister remained silent.”
Christian Concern published a letter from the president of the Bambino Gesù hospital outlining “a detailed treatment plan” for the child, which includes “life-sustaining treatment and palliative care to ensure the safety and comfort of Not while the treatments are taking effect.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Center supporting the Gregorys’ case, said it was believed to be the first time a parent’s appeal against an order to withdraw life-sustaining treatment had been rejected. by the Court of Appeals without a hearing.
“The law is there to protect life and the most vulnerable in our society. What’s happening in this case sets a very troubling precedent with respect to that principle,” Williams said.
“It is very worrying that a child can be taken against the wishes of the parents when they have alternative treatment available.”
Leading pro-life advocate Lila Rose said there is no reason to withdraw medical care from Indi.
“Children survive for years with this condition. Indi requires breathing support from a ventilator, but despite his condition, his parents say he is happy and responds to their touch,” he says.
“Experts at the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome have drawn up a detailed treatment plan for Indi. They believe his breathing problems are caused by a treatable heart condition, known as Tetralogy of Fallo, in rather than from his mitochondrial disease,” he added. “The condition can be corrected without surgery with the placement of a right ventricular outflow tract stent. Experts say the treatment is “more likely than not” to allow Indi to survive without artificial ventilation. Agreed the Italian government to cover the total cost.”
“Given this new information, the British government still refused to let Indi travel to Rome and set a date to remove her breathing support, which would have caused Indi’s death. appeal again for transportation to Rome for treatment,” said Rose.
