Italy has granted citizenship to critically ill baby Indi Gregory, days after a judge said her parents could not take her to Rome to receive treatment.
Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth, from Ilkeston in Derbyshire, have failed in court several times as they insist their daughter should continue to be treated.
Last Thursday, Mr Justice Peel ruled that a transfer to a hospital in the Italian capital would not be in the eight-month-old’s ‘best interests’.
However, the move is now possible after the country’s cabinet met to grant Indi citizenship, citing ‘pre-eminent humanitarian values’.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a post on Facebook: ‘They say there isn’t much hope for little Indi, but until the very end, I’ll do what I can to defend her life. And to defend the right of her mamma and papa to do all that they can for her.’
Mr Gregory said: ‘My heart fills up with joy that the Italians have given Claire and I hope and faith back in humanity.
‘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.’
The Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital in Rome had previously agreed to accept the baby, who is currently being cared for at the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham.
Bosses at the centre’s governing trust told Mr Justice Peel last month that she is dying due to mitochondrial disease, with a doctor saying ‘further ventilation’ would only ‘prolong matters’.
Barrister Emma Sutton KC, who led the trust’s legal team, said Indi has an exceptionally rare and devastating neurometabolic disorder, and that the treatment she received caused pain and was futile.
Her parents, who are being supported in their court battle by the Christian Legal Centre, disagree with that assessment.
Last month, a pair of judges from the Court of Appeal dismissed their challenge to an earlier ruling that said medical staff were lawfully able to limit treatment.
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