British Toddler Alfie Evans Dies - 'We're Heartbroken'
Toddler Alfie Evans, whose parents fought against the British medical and courts system in hopes of giving him treatment they hoped might prolong his life, has died, Fox News reported Saturday.
His father, Tom Evans, announced the news on Facebook on Saturday morning.
“My gladiator lay down his shield and gained his wings at 02:30,” Evans wrote. “Absolutely heartbroken.”
Up at 3am for early flight and learned that little Alfie Evans had died. Maybe he would have even if UK govt had allowed his parents to take their own child to Italy to seek other treatment, but we’ll never know. Alfie is dead. Govt is not God.
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) April 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/realDavidMault/status/990176975963668481
Evans, 21, and Kate James, 20, had fought to have their son taken overseas where he might receive treatments they hoped could save him. British doctors refused their request, and the courts sided with the medical establishment over the parents.
As a result, Alfie’s life support was removed on Monday.
Alfie was born in May 2016. In December of that year he began suffering seizures and had been hospitalized since then. Doctors said he suffered from an incurable degenerative brain disease, the BBC reported.
Alfie had “catastrophic degradation of his brain tissue” and further treatment was not only “futile” but also “unkind and inhumane,” the hospital maintained.
Alfie’s parents wanted to take him to Italy for an experimental treatment, and received support from Italian authorities. Evans claimed the boy was a “prisoner” in the hospital and that the diagnosis was wrong. However, a British court refused to allow the toddler to be taken out of the hospital.
As the parents battled to have Alfie receive treatment in Italy, Pope Francis weighed in on their behalf.
He had spoken about the boy as recently as Wednesday, The Washington Post reported.
“The only author of life, from its beginning to its natural end, is God,” he said. “It is our duty to do all that is possible to safeguard life.”
Our hearts are broken. Rest in Peace, dear Alfie Evans. pic.twitter.com/gCC9EMOkcw
— National Right to Life (@nrlc) April 28, 2018
The case stirred fierce passions, including an attempt by the boy’s partisans, known as “Alfie’s Army,” to enter the hospital on Monday.
On Thursday, Evans asked those protesting outside the Liverpool hospital where the boy was staying to end their efforts, saying he wanted time to work with the hospital to provide his son “with the dignity and comfort he needs.”
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