Terminally ill Alfie Evans dies after legal battle over treatment

Alfie Evans. Photo: Facebook

April 28 (UPI) — Alfie Evans, a 23-month-old boy terminally ill with a degenerative brain disease, died five days after he was taken off life support due to a court ruling.

The toddler died early Saturday morning at Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool, Great Britain, his parents said. Alfie suffered seizures when he was 7 months old, and has been hospitalized in a semi-vegetative state since then with a rare brain disease.

“Our baby boy grew his wings tonight at 2:30 am. We are heart broken,” his parents posted on Facebook. “Thank you everyone for all your support.”

Two months ago, parents Kate James and Thomas Evans fought unsuccessfully in London High Court to keep Alfie on life support and launched a social media campaign, Alfie’s Army, to save the toddler’s life. Hospital officials who argued that continuing life support was was “unkind, unfair and inhumane,” won the legal battle.

His life support has been withdrawn since Monday due to the court decision, but he had been breathing on his own, leading to failed last-minute appeals to transfer him to Italy in hopes of extending his life.

However, judges sided with doctors who said there was no chance of recovery. One senior judge, Lord Justice Andre McFarlane, said parents were vulnerable to bad medical advice.

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