‘He gained his wings at 2.30am…’ Brain-damaged toddler Alfie Evans passes away

Alfie Evans has died.

The toddler was 23-months old and had brain-damage. His parents had fought to keep him on life-support as they sought innovative treatment outside their native UK. Following numerous court decisions, doctors this week withdrew medical intervention to allow him to die. Tom Evans, 21, and 20-year-old Kate James took to social media on Saturday morning to pay tribute to their son.

Mr Evans wrote: "My gladiator lay down his shield and gained his wings at 2.30am.

"Absolutely heartbroken. I LOVE YOU MY GUY."

Alfie had a degenerative neurological condition that left him in a "semi-vegetative state". On Thursday, Mr Evans confirmed that he and Ms James had dropped their bid to take Alfie to Italy for treatment. According to the Independent, he told reporters outside Alder Hey Children's Hospital:

"Alfie doesn't need intensive care anymore. Alfie is lying on the bed with one litre of oxygen going into his lungs and the rest is him. "Some people say it's a miracle, it's not a miracle, it's a misdiagnosis. "All I ask for now is for this meeting to be a positive one, and I hope to have Alfie, on the terms of mine and Alder Hey, to be home within a day or two. "If the meeting doesn't go well today, well then, I'll go back to court."

Alfie had been in a coma for over a year and needed a ventilator to keep him breathing.

Mr Evans met the Pope last week to ask for asylum, begging him to "save our son". The head of the Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital, which is administered by the Vatican, also travelled to Liverpool in a bid to have the boy transferred.

Their case went before the European Court of Human Rights after it was rejected by the UK's Supreme Court, but judges in Strasbourg also refused to intervene.

Following the decision, around 200 people gathered outside Liverpool's Alder Hey hospital chanting "Save Alfie Evans!"