A UK hospital pulled life support on eight-month-old Indi Gregory despite a Vatican hospital being willing to take the baby girl in. Now Indi’s father is praising his “beautiful” daughter and noting that the devastating enforced death led the family to God.
A British court previously ruled that Indi should be taken off life support, even as her parents fought desperately for her right to life and a Vatican hospital offered the care Indi needed to survive, LifeNews reported. Indi’s non-religious parents found one strong support: God. They had their baby baptized so that she could be happy in heaven even if she was heartlessly made to die on earth. Indi’s father called the baby a “true warrior,” and the parents are determined to make her “remembered forever.”
Indi’s father explained the decision to an Italian newspaper, as reported by Aleteia:
“When I was in the court, I felt as if Hell pulled at me,” said Dean Gregory, Indi’s dad. “I thought that if Hell exists, then Heaven must exist too.”
“It was like the devil was there,” he told an Italian newspaper. “I thought that if the devil exists, then God must exist too.”
“I have seen what hell is like and I want Indi to go to heaven.”
In fact, Dean says that he’s decided he should also be baptized. “We want to be protected in this life, and go to heaven.”
The Vatican press office expressed Pope Francis’s prayerful support for Indi and her parents.
As horrific and tragic as Indi’s loss is, perhaps it saved her soul and her parents’ souls. Dean Gregory’s testimony at the Dec. 1 funeral in a Catholic Cathedral, read by Canon Paul Newman, explained how Dean’s baby inspired him before her early death. Dean previously said, per National World, “I honestly and truly feel, deep in my heart, that Indi was not only beautiful, strong and unique. I just knew, from the start, she was very special. Nonetheless, I could never have imagined the sort of journey we and Indi would have to go through to fight for her life.”
He went on, “She didn’t only have to battle against her health problems, she had to battle against a system that makes it almost impossible to win. Yet, it was her weakest point, her health problems, that distinguished Indi as a true warrior.” Dean described the number of health problems and infections Indi survived before adding, “The strength she had for an eight-month-old child was incredible. And this is one of the reasons I would have done anything for Indi to have the chance to live which was denied her.” He concluded, “Her legacy, however, has only just begun. I wanted to make sure Indi would be remembered forever and she will live on in our hearts and through our voices.”
The Catholic bishop of Nottingham, Patrick McKinney, officiated at Indi’s funeral at Nottingham Cathedral on Friday. There was an Italian delegation at Indi’s funeral, and the Italian government reportedly offered to pay for the baby’s funeral.
After a High Court judge decided against the wishes of Indi’s parents that ending the baby’s treatment was in her “best interests,” the parents were unable to get any different decision from the Court of Appeal or the European Court of Human Rights. Her parents reportedly “are angry, heartbroken and ashamed. The NHS and the Courts not only took away her chance to live a longer life, but they also took away Indi’s dignity to pass away in the family home where she belonged.” It is tragic how parental rights and a respect for every human life are being erased in the West. From National World:
Indi’s white coffin, adorned with pink and white flowers, was carried through the city’s streets in a horse-drawn carriage. A procession of eight Rolls-Royce cars transported Indi’s family behind the carriage… The ceremony featured a choir and organ music... During the service, a book featuring thousands of tributes from across Italy was presented to Indi’s parents. Paying tribute, Ms Roccella said the Italian government felt “deep sorrow” at Indi’s death. She said: “We have tried everything we could to bring her to Rome.”
Jews and Christians have always believed that every human life is unique and precious. In Jeremiah 1:5, God says, “Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee.” And in the Didache, or the first century collection of the teaching of Christ’s Apostles, we find the command: “you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born.” While the UK judge who ruled against Indi Gregory violated that command, God was waiting to welcome little Indi into the eternal joy of Heaven.
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