Heartbreak as Alfie loses life

parents want in these cases. Should responsible parents really be prevented from seeking the best medical care available for their children? The answer has to be no.

‘‘The whole thing could have been avoided by simply allowing Alfie to be taken to a hospital of his parents’ choice that would have given him the care they were looking for with another team.’’

Alfie’s parents had been involved in a bitter legal battle with Alder Hey over their wish to fly him to Italy for continued medical care.

He had his ventilator removed late on Monday after they exhausted legal avenues to reverse a February court ruling preventing the move.

They suffered a further court defeat on Wednesday, when three senior judges rejected an appeal to take the boy to Rome for treatment, despite earlier interventions from Pope Francis and the Italian government.

Medical experts agreed that further treatment would be futile, but his parents had wanted him treated at the Vatican’s Bambino Gesu hospital, which had offered to care for him.

Alder Hey said its staff had experienced a barrage of ‘‘unprecedented personal abuse’’ over the case and following protests at the hospital police remained on guard inside and outside the building.

In the hours following Alfie’s death the hospital was inundated with tributes, with staff making available a section of next door Springfield Park for the mass of flowers, soft toys and flags in his memory brought by well-wishers.

More than 1000 gathered in the park yesterday afternoon to release balloons in Alfie’s mem-