'Happy and relieved' say parents, after baby transferred from Bristol to Rome for treatment
The child underwent a double operation on Wednesday after being airlifted on Tuesday
Last updated 26th Apr 2024
The father of a one-month-old boy - who was being treated in Bristol, before being airlifted from the UK to Rome for medical treatment - says he is 'happy and relieved'.
Photos of the transfer show an Italian ambulance on board a military cargo plane, reported to have been sent to collect the boy from Bristol Royal Hospital for Children as the child suffers from a congenital heart condition - and the parents believed a crucial treatment was not available in this country.
The father of the child, who does not wish to be identified, is an Italian citizen who has worked in the UK for many years. He said: "We sincerely thank the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and all the Italian authorities who actively took action to make the transfer of our son possible.
“A special thanks goes to the staff of the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital who have committed to providing our son with specialist treatment.
“We also thank the medical staff at the UK hospital for smoothly authorizing and supporting us and our son through this process."
A spokesperson for the group Christian Concern said: "The parents of the child were told by an NHS hospital that the specialist treatment was not available in the UK. To try and save the life of their child, they faced no alternative but to turn to Italian authorities and lawyer and former senator, Simone Pillon."
Mr Pillon was involved in the high-profile legal case of Indi Gregory in November 2023, who was diagnosed with a rare mitochondrial disease
The statement added: "In this latest case, however, the Italian authorities were able to cooperate and work with the NHS to secure the transfer before the issue was referred to the High Court.
"During careful negotiations and collaboration, Italian authorities and doctors at the Bambino Gesù proposed a transfer involving putting an ambulance and full medical team on a specially equipped military aircraft C -130 of 46th Air Brigade.
"The medical team included Professor Bi Chiara and Professor Galletti from the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital.
"Safely transferred within a matter of hours on the morning of Tuesday 23 April, the baby and his parents arrived in Rome. On April 24 (the following day), the child underwent a double operation."
Simone Pillon said: “We are very pleased that we have been able to demonstrate to the UK that it is possible to work together and safely transfer children with serious medical conditions from the UK to Rome for specialist treatment. We are very thankful to the UK doctors.
“While this is an encouraging day for this baby boy and his family, we think of the family of Indi Gregory who were denied the chance to bring their child to Italy.
“We hope this can be the beginning of further cooperation and teamwork with the UK when such emergencies occur and when there is an opportunity to try and save a child’s life.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre which has supported a number of high-profile end-of-life cases involving children in the UK, said: “This is a huge moment for how end-of-life cases involving children could be handled in this country.
“This baby has been given a chance of life and the wishes of the parents have been supported and respected.”
A University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson confirmed:
A University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson confirmed: “We worked with Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital to support the safe transfer of a newborn patient to Rome. Due to patient confidentiality, it would not be appropriate to go into specific details regarding a patient’s care.”