Indi Gregory: A timeline of family's fight to save critically ill baby
The life of eight-and-a-half-month-old Indi Gregory was at the heart of a profound ethical and medical struggle after a legal battle over ending her treatment.
Indi Gregory was born on 24 February 2023. She was a patient in the paediatric intensive care unit at the Queen’s Medical Centre, in Nottingham.
Indi had some very serious health problems: she was born with mitochondrial disease, a genetic condition which saps energy from the body's cells.
Specialists caring for Indi at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham said treatment should be withdrawn.
However, her parents, Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth, said they would do whatever it takes to fight for the life of their daughter.
This point of contention sparked a high court battle and a series of legal proceedings between the hospital trust and Indi's parents.
On Sunday 12 November, Indi Gregory's life-support treatment was withdrawn.
In the early hours of Monday 13 November, Indi died after having her life-support switched off.
ITV News Central looks back at a timeline of the case.
Hospital trust applies to the High Court to end Indi Gregory's treatment
On 7 September 2023, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust requested permission to withhold certain intense medical treatments, such as breathing assistance, oxygen therapy, tubes, and CPR, if Indi's condition were to deteriorate further.
The reason given by medics was stark: Indi was in excruciating pain and her medical conditions appeared incurable.
"We are truly saddened that we are in this situation: it is our life’s work to make children better," the specialist told the judge.
"However, there are situations where the best of modern medicine is unable to help, and this is such a situation."
Trust changes its request to remove critical care
On 27 September 2023, the hospital trust changed its request to remove critical care.
Specialists believed that Indi wouldn't recover, had a short time left to live, was in a lot of pain from the treatments, and couldn't interact with the world anymore.
Indi's parents oppose the application
Indi's mother and father opposed the application. They said they wanted everything possible to be done to treat Indi and prolong her life.
They accepted that she was fragile and had limited life expectancy, but they said she was showing small signs of improvement, had prospects of gaining a degree of autonomy and interacted meaningfully with those around her.
They added she showed no sign of serious pain, and accordingly, the benefits of life outweigh the burdens of her treatment.
Indi's parents get more time to secure legal help
A previous lack of funding was branded “little short of a public scandal” by a judge.
He said: “It has been little short of a public scandal, in my view, that until recently parents of children in these cases have not been eligible for public funding.”
Mr Justice Peel ruled a further hearing should take place in early October to determine what is in Indi’s best interests, adjourning the previous hearing.
Indi's father says he will do "whatever it takes" amid the High Court battle
Mr Gregory said Indi is "clearly comforted" when cuddled by her parents.
He said: "Indi has been in hospital all her young life, and she has had ups and downs, but during the good times she has been on a normal ward, able to breathe by herself and babble happily."
Mr Gregory continued: "Our daughter responds to us, and on her good days she is babbling, making noises, moving all her limbs.
"She can definitely experience happiness. She cries like a normal baby. We know she is disabled, but you don’t just let disabled people die. We just want to give her a chance."
He added: "I and we as a family are prepared to do whatever it takes to fight for the life of our beautiful daughter, Indi."
Indi's parents lose High Court life-support treatment fight
On Friday 13 October Mr Justice Peel ruled that medics could lawfully withdraw invasive treatment.
“With a heavy heart I have come to the conclusion that the burdens of invasive treatment outweigh the benefits,” said the judge in a written ruling.
“In short, the significant pain experienced by this lovely little girl is not justified when set against an incurable set of conditions, a very short life span, no prospect of recovery and, at best, minimal engagement with the world around her.”
He added: “In my judgment, having weighed up all the competing considerations, her best interests are served by permitting the trust to withdraw invasive treatment.”
Indi's parents stage an appeal after losing High Court fight
Indi's parents said her life support treatment should continue.
They were supported by campaign group the Christian Legal Centre.
Two appeal judges, Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Birss, were then listed to oversee a Court of Appeal hearing, at the Royal Courts of Justice, in London on 23 October.
Indi’s parents fail to persuade ECHR judges to intervene
They say they expect medics in England to begin the withdrawal of treatment soon.
A boss at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, where Indi is being cared for, had said the ECHR decision concluded a “very difficult process”.
Dr Keith Girling, medical director at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust – which governs the Queen’s Medical Centre, had said the “priority now” is to provide the “best possible care to Indi” and to “support her parents”.
An Italian hospital offers to treat Indi
After Indi's parents had lost legal fights in London and failed in a bid to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France, the Christian Legal Centre said that a hospital in Rome had agreed to accept the eight-month-old girl.
A Christian Legal Centre spokesman said on Monday 31 October that there had been a “dramatic development".
“A leading paediatric hospital in Italy has offered specialist treatment,” he said.
"Fully-funded by the Italian government, the Bambino Gesu Paediatric Hospital in Rome has agreed to accept Indi for treatment."
He said Mr Gregory had received a letter from the hospital president.
“We have been given a real chance by the Bambino Gesu Paediatric Hospital for Indi to get the care she needs and to have a longer life,” said Mr Gregory, in a statement released through the Christian Legal Centre.
“We are amazed and truly grateful to the hospital and the Italian government, which has restored our faith in humanity."
Court rules Indi cannot be transferred for treatment in Italy
The judge ruled that it is in Indi's "best interests" to die in the UK rather than be transferred to Italy to receive specialist treatment at the Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital.
“I am satisfied that the proposal for a transfer to Rome would not be in (Indi’s) best interests,” he said in his ruling.
“In my judgment, there is no material change of circumstances, or other compelling reason, to justify reconsideration of my original order. The application is dismissed.”
Bosses at the Queen’s Medical Centre had argued that Indi’s parents’ application should be dismissed.
The ruling which prevents Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust from removing Indi's life-support, expired at the same time Mr Justice Peel released his judgment.
It was extended to Friday 3 November.
Indi's parents ask for her to spend the rest of her life at home
Mr Gregory and Ms Staniforth wanted specialists to withdraw treatment from eight-month-old Indi Gregory at their home in Ilkeston, Derbyshire.
Specialists caring for Indi at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham said treatment should be withdrawn in a hospice or hospital.
Parents lose battle for Indi to get end-of-life care at home
A judge on Wednesday 8 November ruled against Indi’s parents and concluded that withdrawing treatment at home would be “too dangerous”.
Mr Justice Peel considered arguments relating to Indi’s end-of-life care at a private online hearing in the Family Division of the High Court on Tuesday.
In a written ruling, he said he accepted the evidence of specialists.
“There are a number of factors which render extubation and palliative care at the family home all but impossible, and certainly contrary to (Indi’s) best interests,” the judge said.
“It is too dangerous to do so given the clinical complications.”
He added: “I consider it essential that (Indi) should continue to have clinical treatment of the highest quality, carried out in a safe and sustainable setting. That will not be available at home.”
Parents appeal
Indi's parents had their appeal rejected against a High Court ruling that their daughter cannot receive end-of-life care at home.
A High Court judge concluded that withdrawing treatment at home would be “too dangerous”.
Indi Gregory has life-support treatment withdrawn
Eight-month-old Indi had been transferred from the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham to a hospice.
Indi has had her life support treatment withdrawn at a hospice.
She died at 1.45am on Monday 13 November.
In a statement, Indi's father, Dean Gregory said: "Claire and I are angry heartbroken and ashamed. 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.
"Claire held her for her final breaths."
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