Indi Gregory’s devastated parents mourn tragic baby at funeral service: Horse-drawn hearse carries eight-month-old’s casket through Nottingham after infant died following life treatment legal battle
The parents of tragic eight-month-old Indi Gregory have said goodbye to their daughter after the tot lost her battle with a rare and incurable disease last month.
Indi, from Ilkeston, Derbyshire, died on November 13 after UK High Court judges had ruled that it would not be in her best interests for the toddler to be flown to Italy for ‘specialist treatment’.
Heartbroken parents Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth have been joined by mourners for a beautiful farewell at Nottingham’s St Barnabas Cathedral. The tot was brought to the church in a white horse-drawn carriage accompanied by a train of Rolls Royces.
The carriage, pulled by white horses dressed in pink, arrived outside the cathedral, from where Indi was then borne inside by pallbearers — including her father Mr Gregory.
Floral wreaths were laid at the funeral service bearing messages of condolence for Indi and her family; one touching tribute, made up white carnations and pink roses, was arranged in the shape of a teddy bear.
Indi Gregory died on November 13 after UK High Court judges ordered that she could not travel to Italy for care
Indi Gregory’s mother, Claire Staniforth (centre), arrives at St Barnabas Cathedral in Nottingham for the eight-month-old’s funeral
Indi Gregory’s father Dean Gregory (front) carries the casket of his daughter into St Barnabas Cathedral for the funeral service
The young girl, eight months, was brought to the church in a white horse-drawn carriage accompanied by a train of silver Rolls Royces
The carriage bearing Indi Gregory arrives outside St Barnabas Cathedral in Nottingham as mourners watch on
The white carriage, adored with floral tributes and drawn by horses dressed in pink, drew up at St Barnabas Cathedral on Friday morning
Cards left with the flowers featured heartbreaking tributes: ‘RIP Indy, always will love you,’ read one.
Another read: ‘RIP Indi…go dance with the angels beautiful, love you always.’
Mourners stood by and wiped tears as the carriage drew up before Indi was then carried inside – her casket so small it could be borne by two people.
Indi had mitochondrial disease, a condition which meant that her cells did not produce enough energy. Doctors at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham said she had been living in significant pain and distress.
But Mr Gregory and Ms Staniforth’s fight to give their daughter the best chance of survival saw Indi at the centre of in several High Court and Court of Appeal cases in the UK as after an Italian hospital under Vatican jurisdiction offered to treat her.
The offer sensationally led to Indi being granted Italian citizenship by the country’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – but UK judges refused to grant her parents permission to take her abroad after hearing from doctors who had cared for her.
Rome’s Bambino Gesu children’s hospital, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Holy See, had offered to administer treatment for Indi.
But Indi’s parents failed to convince High Court and Court of Appeal judges in London and judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to keep Indi on life-support.
She was moved from the QMC to a hospice where she died in the early hours of November 13 in her mother’s arms.
Mr Gregory and Ms Staniforth have accused the NHS and the courts of taking away ‘not only…her chance to live a longer life, but (her) dignity’.
Mr Gregory said after her passing: ‘They managed to take Indi’s body and dignity, but they will never be able to take her soul.
‘They tried to get rid of Indi without anybody knowing, but we made sure she would be remembered forever. I knew she was special from the day she was born. Claire held her for her final breaths.’
Mourners gather outside the cathedral ahead of the funeral service for eight-month-old Indi Gregory
One touching tribute left at the church, made up white carnations and pink roses, was arranged in the shape of a teddy bear
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