The recent death of Indi Gregory from mitochondrial disease did not make world headlines, but it should have. On November 13, the eight-month-old child passed away in her mother’s arms in a British hospice. Doubtless, the cause of death listed on the certificate was the disease. However, a complicating factor was the intransigence of the British socialist “healthcare” system.
The political situation that cost little Indi Gregory her life is eerily similar to the cases of Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans that made headlines in 2018.
Every Parent’s Nightmare
Indi’s father, Dean Gregory, told Great Britain’s Daily Compass that Indi had health issues before she was born, noting that she had fluid on the brain and heart problems. “The doctors kept pressuring us to have an abortion right up to the moment of her birth.” However, the parents refused, and their child was born naturally, although she did stop breathing a few hours later and had to be resuscitated. She started having seizures and was diagnosed with Mitochondrial DNA Depletion Syndrome (MDS).
The National Health Service (NHS) bureaucrats decided that Indi’s life was no longer worth trying to save. Her parents disagreed. So did the Italian Government, which offered the infant citizenship as Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome prepared to treat her.
The BPR news service quoted Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni.
“They say there isn’t much hope for little Indi, but until the end, I will do what I can to defend her life. And to defend her mom and dad’s right to do everything they can for her.”
A Resolute Bureaucracy
However, the NHS would not be denied its pounds of flesh. First, Justice Robert Peel ruled that Indi must be removed from the ventilator that was helping her to continue breathing. When Indi’s parents appealed the barbarous decision, the British appeals court judges Lord Justice Peter Jackson, Lady Justice Eleanor King and Lord Justice Andrew Moylan concurred that the bureaucracy’s powers must outweigh the rights of a sick baby. She was removed from the ventilator and sent to a nearby hospice.
Learn All About the Prophecies of Our Lady of Good Success About Our Times
However, thankfully, Indi’s story does not end there. In his legal struggle, Mr. Gregory, a non-religious man himself up to that time, was blessed with the grace of an amazing insight. A week before Indi’s death, he told the Daily Compass about his change of heart.
A Change of Heart
“I am not religious and I am not baptized. But when I was in court, it felt like I had been dragged to hell. I thought if hell exists then heaven must exist. It was like the devil was there. I thought if there’s a devil then God must exist.”
A hospital volunteer who visited Indi and her family each day told Mr. Gregory about the saving power of Holy Baptism. He was also impressed by the care of the lawyers from the Christian Legal Center, who assisted in the various court hearings. He decided to have Indi baptized.
“It was like Indi’s baptism was also a way of recognizing their work. I have seen what hell is like and I want Indi to go to heaven. In fact, I have decided that me and my daughter should get baptized too. We want to be protected in this life and go to heaven.”
The Path to Life
Holy Mother Church might caution Mr. Gregory about the “be protected in this life” part of his statement. After all, the Christians who fought for Indi’s life did not prevail against a socialist bureaucracy with an evil intent.
However, Indi’s entire family can know that their tiny daughter is now in the loving care of Our Lady, the mother of all Christians. They can be sure that she is, at this very moment, praying for the parents who strove so valiantly to save her life and who opened the door to her participation in the Beatific Vision. Let us all pray that this journey of faith, born of such distress, will end in the family members being blessed with the grace of a sustaining faith.
Perhaps this little one will hear about our prayers and pray for us as well!
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