Pensioner pushes for daughter's life support to be stopped

A pensioner has asked a judge to give doctors permission to stop providing life-support treatment to her severely ill middle-aged daughter.

The pensioner, who is in her 70s, says her daughter has suffered from Huntington's disease, an inherited condition which damages nerve cells in the brain, for more than 20 years and is showing no awareness.

She says medical evidence shows that her daughter is in the end stages of life and says relatives and doctors agree that life-support treatment should stop.

The pensioner has launched litigation in the specialist Court of Protection, where issues relating to people who lack the mental capacity to make decisions about treatment are considered, on her daughter's behalf.

Mr Justice Peter Jackson is scheduled to decide what moves are in the woman's best interests after analysing the case at a hearing in London on June 22.

He has ruled that the woman - who is in her 50s, has grown up children and is being cared for at a hospital in the Midlands - cannot be identified.

Solicitor Yogi Amin, who works for law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: "The mother and other members of the family have provided dedicated care for the last 25 years.

"They have been a constant presence in her life.

"The mother personally visits her at least four times a week and has done throughout her stay in hospital."

He added: "Her family have no interest in this case other than to ensure that her care and treatment are provided in accordance with what she would have wanted and what is in her best interests."