Boy dies after ruling to end life support

A one-year-old boy at the centre of a legal battle over whether his life-sustaining care should continue has died after a High Court judge ruled his treatment should stop.

Ayden Braqi suffered from a “severe, progressive and irreversible neuromuscular disease” for which there is no known cure.

Lawyers for Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London, where he was being cared for, argued the burden of treatment “outweighed the limited benefits he could enjoy” from prolonging his life – while his mother opposed the bid, saying he still smiled despite his condition.

The High Court ruled it was not in Ayden’s interests to continue his treatment and his life support was turned off on Thursday.

Ayden died at the hospital “with his family around him”, shortly after the mechanical ventilation keeping him alive was withdrawn.

In a ruling made on Wednesday and published on Friday following Ayden’s death, Mrs Justice Morgan said: “I have taken account of the views of his mother that he should continue to have that care and her strong wishes in respect of this application.

“I must however take an objective view of Ayden’s best interests from his own point of view and from the point of view, in the widest sense, of his welfare.”

Ayden was admitted to GOSH when he was three months old and remained there for the rest of his life.

During a hearing last month, it was heard Ayden was “cognitively intact” and could “see, hear, smell, feel, and enjoy”.

His mother Neriman Braqi said in her evidence that she would sometimes spend around 16 hours a day with him.

Mrs Justice Morgan said Ms Braqi loved Ayden “with a devotion which is hard to put into words” adding that the case was one of “desperate sadness”.

She added that Ms Braqi had “fought unstintingly” for her son and “could not have done for him more than she has”.

A spokesman for GOSH said staff had the best interests at the heart of their decisions for every child, and that going to court was the “very last resort” and “all other avenues” had been exhausted.

He said everyone involved in Ayden’s life “always wanted the very best for him”, but “unfortunately, sometimes not everyone agrees with what is best”.

The spokesman apologised for the distress caused to Ayden’s family, adding: “We acknowledge that this is a situation no parent or clinician wants, and we have always understood and respected his family’s views and their devotion to Ayden.

“This has been an incredibly difficult situation for everyone involved, none more so than for Ayden’s family. Our thoughts are with them and our teams will continue to do all we can to support them.”