The Italian government has granted citizenship to a critically ill British baby, less than an hour before medical staff in the UK were poised to pull the plug on her life support.
Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister, convened a meeting of her cabinet on Monday afternoon and within minutes, at about 2.15pm Italian time, they had agreed to confer citizenship on eight-month-old Indi Gregory, who has an incurable mitochondrial disease.
The decision was designed to block moves by medical staff at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham to extubate the baby.
A legal stay on pulling her life-support system was due to expire 45 minutes after the Italian cabinet made its decision.
Her parents, Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth, want to transfer Indi to Rome, where the Vatican-run Bambino Gesù Hospital has offered to treat her.
The care would be funded by the Italian authorities without any cost to the NHS or British taxpayers.
“My heart fills up with joy that the Italians have given Claire and I hope and faith back in humanity,” Mr Gregory said. “The Italians have shown us care and loving support and I wish the UK authorities were the same. ‘‘I’m very proud to say Indi has Italian citizenship and I thank the Italian government and the Italian people from the bottom of my heart.”
Well, at least she’ll get to experience being a political pawn in the culture war and have a holiday before she inevitably dies. That’s something, I guess.
The article omits an important detail, which is how long this baby is expected to live. IMHO, it depends on the life expectancy whether this is cruel or good.
I will be honest – i would love if that poor baby could survive and live fulfilling and happy life
But by looking at it (and searching it), it looks really similar to Alfie Evans case ( *for those that don’t know/remember, this exact scenario happened in 2018 with Alfie Evans. He had extremly bad genetic disorders, doctors decided to unplug him and italy offered to give him care. The parents sued and court decided that if even boy survived, his life would be pure suffering, so they sided with doctors.* )
There are not enough detail, but that disease she has is something that would make her life absolute cringe if she somehow survives to adulthood.
And that is only from what we know – i was unable to find exact disease she has.
So yea – i would really love if she could live. But it looks like that letting her go is probably best – for parent and for her too.
….but still ,maybe that disease isn’t that bad. Or maybe Italians have some secret miracle for her. But by what i found for now, i am on side of british doctors to let her go.
Even though I don’t agree with it, I can’t blame her parents for trying every avenue, even if they’re just buying her a few weeks or days (she has a congenital mitochondrial disease). They’re prolonging her unnecessary agony, but they’re parents of a baby that’s not even 1 yo.
What is disgusting is how the Italian right wing is weaponising the life of a terminally ill baby for their dirty culture wars.
This is happening while a terminally ill cancer patient has publicly denounced the Italian NHS for not giving her access to end of life treatment and she was forced to go to Switzerland, accompanied by her son and an Italian politician that regularly risks prison for it, as part of a campaign to legalise euthanasia.
I’m sorry. But there are many cases οf family members being extremely selfish insisting to keep by any means their suffering relative alive. At least when you are an Adult you can make arrangements so that your relatives cannot choose to keep you artificially “living”. A child don’t even have that. Sad
I’m sorry. But there are many cases οf family members being extremely selfish insisting to keep by any means their suffering relative alive. At least when you are an Adult you can make arrangements so that your relatives cannot choose to keep you artificially “living”. A child don’t even have that. Sad
I understand. There’s a difference between pulling the plug on someone in a coma and someone who acts like everybody else as long as they are on life support, which the article makes it seem like.
Buying a week or a few for an unconscious, actively dying person isn’t treatment.
10 comments
***The Telegraph’s Nick Squires reports:***
The Italian government has granted citizenship to a critically ill British baby, less than an hour before medical staff in the UK were poised to pull the plug on her life support.
Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister, convened a meeting of her cabinet on Monday afternoon and within minutes, at about 2.15pm Italian time, they had agreed to confer citizenship on eight-month-old Indi Gregory, who has an incurable mitochondrial disease.
The decision was designed to block moves by medical staff at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham to extubate the baby.
A legal stay on pulling her life-support system was due to expire 45 minutes after the Italian cabinet made its decision.
Her parents, Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth, want to transfer Indi to Rome, where the Vatican-run Bambino Gesù Hospital has offered to treat her.
The care would be funded by the Italian authorities without any cost to the NHS or British taxpayers.
“My heart fills up with joy that the Italians have given Claire and I hope and faith back in humanity,” Mr Gregory said. “The Italians have shown us care and loving support and I wish the UK authorities were the same. ‘‘I’m very proud to say Indi has Italian citizenship and I thank the Italian government and the Italian people from the bottom of my heart.”
**Read more here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/06/critically-ill-indi-gregory-granted-italian-citizenship/**
Well, at least she’ll get to experience being a political pawn in the culture war and have a holiday before she inevitably dies. That’s something, I guess.
The article omits an important detail, which is how long this baby is expected to live. IMHO, it depends on the life expectancy whether this is cruel or good.
I will be honest – i would love if that poor baby could survive and live fulfilling and happy life
But by looking at it (and searching it), it looks really similar to Alfie Evans case ( *for those that don’t know/remember, this exact scenario happened in 2018 with Alfie Evans. He had extremly bad genetic disorders, doctors decided to unplug him and italy offered to give him care. The parents sued and court decided that if even boy survived, his life would be pure suffering, so they sided with doctors.* )
There are not enough detail, but that disease she has is something that would make her life absolute cringe if she somehow survives to adulthood.
And that is only from what we know – i was unable to find exact disease she has.
So yea – i would really love if she could live. But it looks like that letting her go is probably best – for parent and for her too.
….but still ,maybe that disease isn’t that bad. Or maybe Italians have some secret miracle for her. But by what i found for now, i am on side of british doctors to let her go.
Even though I don’t agree with it, I can’t blame her parents for trying every avenue, even if they’re just buying her a few weeks or days (she has a congenital mitochondrial disease). They’re prolonging her unnecessary agony, but they’re parents of a baby that’s not even 1 yo.
What is disgusting is how the Italian right wing is weaponising the life of a terminally ill baby for their dirty culture wars.
This is happening while a terminally ill cancer patient has publicly denounced the Italian NHS for not giving her access to end of life treatment and she was forced to go to Switzerland, accompanied by her son and an Italian politician that regularly risks prison for it, as part of a campaign to legalise euthanasia.
I’m sorry. But there are many cases οf family members being extremely selfish insisting to keep by any means their suffering relative alive. At least when you are an Adult you can make arrangements so that your relatives cannot choose to keep you artificially “living”. A child don’t even have that. Sad
I’m sorry. But there are many cases οf family members being extremely selfish insisting to keep by any means their suffering relative alive. At least when you are an Adult you can make arrangements so that your relatives cannot choose to keep you artificially “living”. A child don’t even have that. Sad
I understand. There’s a difference between pulling the plug on someone in a coma and someone who acts like everybody else as long as they are on life support, which the article makes it seem like.
Buying a week or a few for an unconscious, actively dying person isn’t treatment.
I hate these cynical comments.