British Infant Indi Gregory Given More Time to Live as Judge Allows Family to Appeal
A terminally ill British infant has been given more time to live after a court on Thursday gave her family permission to appeal a judge’s decision mandating where her life support can be removed.
According to a Christian advocacy group, the courts may also consider the possibility of allowing the family to take the child to Italy for treatment at a Vatican-run hospital.
Indi Gregory, born in February, suffers from a rare degenerative mitochondrial disease and has been receiving life-sustaining treatment on a ventilator at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, England.
The British advocacy group Christian Concern reported Thursday that the family’s appeal will be heard remotely Nov. 10 at noon by the Court of Appeal, which is the second-highest court in the U.K. Gregory’s life support will not be removed until the hearing is over or further instructions are given by the court, the group said.
“To date there has been no response or comment from the U.K. government on the case,” the group added.
Justice Robert Peel had ruled on Wednesday, following a Nov. 7 “urgent online hearing,” that Gregory’s life support must be removed at 2 p.m. local time on Nov. 9, contrary to the wishes of her parents and over and against Italy’s attempts to treat the child.
Furthermore, the judge’s order stated that the life support must be removed at the hospital or at a hospice and not at the child’s home, citing a need for “clinical treatment of the highest quality, carried out in a safe and sustainable setting,” the BBC reported.
