Eight-month-old Indi Gregory, the young girl at the centre of a heated court battle in the UK that also involved the Italian government, died around eight hours after her life support was removed.
The young girl died in her mother’s arms at a hospice at around 2 a.m. local time on Monday following a weeks-long battle between her parents and the UK as her parents desperately tried to have their child’s treatment continued.
Father Dean Gregory and mother Claire Staniforth announced the news of Indi’s death on Monday with Gregory stating the couple were, “heartbroken and ashamed,” The Guardian reports.
Gregory went on to slam the publicly funded National Health Service (NHS) and the UK court system, saying, “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.”
“They did succeed in taking Indi’s body and dignity, but they can never take her soul. They tried to get rid of Indi without anybody knowing, but we made sure she would be remembered forever. I knew she was special from the day she was born,” he added.
Indi suffered from a rare and incurable mitochondrial condition and NHS doctors and nurses claimed they could do no more for her and a judge in October agreed, granting them permission to take young Indi off life support.
However, her parents, along with the campaign group Christian Concern, battled all the way to the High Court of the United Kingdom in an attempt to bring their child home but were denied.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also became involved in the case, granting Indi Italian citizenship, while the Vatican-run Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome offered to treat Indi. The Italians also offered to not only transport Indi to Italy but also to pay for the treatment.
Prime Minister Meloni commented on the death of Indi on Monday saying, “We did everything we could, everything possible. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, have a good trip little Indi.”
She was joined by Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini who stated, “Little Indi Gregory is no more, news we never wanted to read. The Italian government has done its best, offering to treat her in our country, unfortunately without success.”
