A mother in the UK has made legal history after winning a High Court case to end the life of her severely disabled 12-year old daughter.
The court heard how Nancy Fitzmaurice was born blind and suffering from hydrocephalus, meningitis and septicaemia, meaning she was unable to talk, walk, eat or drink.
Nancy also medically depended on round the clock hospital care, and was fed, watered and medicated through a tube at London’s Great Ormand Street Hospital.
The family made the heartbreaking decision to end Nancy’s life after a routine operation left her “screaming in agony” and her mother Charlotte Fitzmaurice no longer wanted her daughter to suffer.
In a landmark case, Great Ormand Street fought on behalf of Charlotte and her family to give their daughter the right to die.
A statement given to a judge explaining why her daughter should no longer suffer Charlotte, 36, said her daughter longed for peace:
“My daughter is no longer my daughter she is now merely just a shell. The light from her eyes is now gone and is replaced with fear and a longing to be peace.”
Justice Eleanor King at the High Court of Justice declared it was in mother and daughter’s best interests to withdraw fluids she needed to survive:
“The love, devotion and competence of her mother are apparent. In her own closed world she has had some quality of life. Sadly that is not the case now.”
Nancy passed away in late August of this year.
Images via Metro UK
