Alfie Evans: Tributes pour in for 'gladiator' toddler who died after five days without life support

'A brave little soldier all the way to the end'
Ella Wills28 April 2018

The father of Alfie Evans has paid tribute to his “gladiator” son who died on Saturday morning five days after having his life-support withdrawn.

The 23-month-old - who was being treated at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool - died at 2.30am, Kate James and Thomas Evans said.

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

“Absolutely heartbroken. I LOVE YOU MY GUY.”

It sparked an outpouring of support online as people around the world offered their condolences to the parents.

A woman leaves some flowers outside Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool
PA

Tributes were also left outside Alder Hey on Saturday following the news of Alfie's death, with members of the public bringing flowers and balloons to the hospital.

Grieving: Alfie pictured in his mother's arms days before he died
Facebook

One card left on flowers laid outside the hospital read: "We fell in love with a little boy we never knew.

"Alfie will be forever engraved in our heart. Fly high little man."

RIP Alfie: floral tributes were brought to the hospital on Saturday
Getty Images

Another said: "Alfie you stole the heart of the world!

"RIP Alfie, we love you and will always fight for you forever in our hearts."

Alder Hey issued a statement on its website offering its "heartfelt sympathy" to his parents.

Piers Morgan wrote on Twitter: “RIP Alfie Evans. My deepest condolences to his parents, who fought so hard for their brave little boy.”

While Lord Alan Sugar said: “Sad day for his parents who fought so hard for him.”

Ms James wrote: "Our baby boy grew his wings tonight at 2.30am. We are heartbroken. Thank you everyone for your support."

The youngster was at the centre of a legal battle over his treatment that touched hearts around the world.

"RIP Alfie Evans" was trending on Twitter as thousands posted tributes to the "brave little soldier".

British boxer Tony Bellew wrote: "RIP Alfie Evans... A brave little soldier all the way to the end... Thoughts are with his mother & father today.."

And former WBC champion Frank Bruno said: "Heart breaking news to hear this morning, my thoughts & prayers are with his parents, they did everything they could for this little man. God rest his soul."

Meanwhile people on the Alfie's Army Facebook page, which has nearly 800,000 members, responded to the "heartbreaking" news.

One woman said: "Fly high little man, you touched the hearts of thousands, thinking of your Mummy and Daddy. You fought right to the end, heaven really has gained an angel."

Mr Evans, 21 and Ms James, 20, had fought to take their son to a foreign hospital for treatment for a degenerative medical condition, but lost a final court appeal on Wednesday.

Doctors had removed Alfie's life-support following a High Court judge's ruling on Monday, however he continued to live.

His parents said that the youngster had defied doctors' expectations and they took their case to the Court of Appeal, but the application to take him abroad was rejected.

After accepting that their options had been exhausted, Alfie's parents sought to build bridges with medical staff and pledged to work alongside doctors to give him "the dignity and comfort" he needed.

In a statement Alder Hey Children's Hospital said: "We wish to express our heartfelt sympathy and condolences to Alfie's family at this extremely distressing time.

"All of us feel deeply for Alfie, Kate, Tom and his whole family and our thoughts are with them.

"This has been a devastating journey for them and we would ask that their privacy and the privacy of staff at Alder Hey is respected."

The hospital has asked people to leave tributes to Alfie in Springfield Park, next to the hospital.

A Merseyside Police spokesman said: "We'd like to pass on our sincere thoughts and condolences to Tom, Kate and their families for their sad loss following the death of their son Alfie Evans.

"We also pass our thoughts to those at the hospital who supported the family in caring for Alfie. May Alfie rest peacefully."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in