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LONDON (AFP, REUTERS) - Alfie Evans, the 23-month-old British toddler whose grave illness drew international attention, died early on Saturday (April 28), his father said in a Facebook post.
“Our baby grew his wings tonight at 2:30am (9.30am Saturday Singapore time). We are heartbroken. Thank you everyone for all your support,” Kate James and Thomas Evans said in a statement on Facebook.
Mr Evans said: “My gladiator lay down his shield and gained his wings at 0230. Absolutely heartbroken. I love you my guy.”
The parents had fought to take their son, who had a degenerative medical condition, from a hospital in Liverpool in northwest England to a clinic in Rome but lost a final court appeal on Wednesday.
Doctors had already removed life support on Monday after the parents lost a previous appeal to keep him alive despite doctors’ recommendations.
Medical experts in Britain had agreed that more treatment for Alfie would be futile, but his parents wanted to take him to Rome, where the Vatican’s Bambino Gesu hospital had offered to care for him. A British court rejected an appeal by the parents on Wednesday to take their son to Italy.
Pope Francis intervened several times in a case that attracted worldwide attention, particularly in Italy and Poland.
Earlier this week, the pontiff wrote on Twitter that he hoped the parents’ "desire to seek new forms of treatment may be granted”.
Tom Evans had met the pope in the Vatican and asked him to “save our son”.
Italy had also granted citizenship to the toddler in the hope of facilitating his transfer to the Bamino Gesu (Baby Jesus) paediatric hospital in Rome.
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/alfie-evans-british-toddler-at-centre-of-legal-battle-dies
