Charlie Gard dies following long battle over experimental treatment

Terminally ill British baby Charlie Gard has died.

“Our beautiful little boy has gone, we are so proud of you Charlie,” said the boy’s mother, Connie Yates, in a statement Friday.

Gard’s parents waged a lengthy legal battle to bring their son to the United States for experimental treatment. Britain’s Supreme Court had ruled that it was in the infant’s best interest to be allowed to die with dignity.

The boy’s case garnered international attention following offers of help from both Pope Francis and U.S. President Donald Trump. An online page collecting funds to pay for Charlie’s experimental treatment raised more than $2 million.

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The 11-month-old suffered from mitochondrial depletion syndrome, which causes progressive brain damage and muscle weakness.

The diagnosis came as a shock to his parents, as the boy was born “perfectly healthy,” before beginning to show signs of illness at eight weeks, the family said on the online fundraising page.

“He literally has nothing to lose but potentially a healthier, happier life to gain,” Yates wrote, in her plea for funds to take Charlie to the U.S. for treatment.

Charlie required a ventilator to breathe and was unable to see, hear or swallow.

Last week, Charlie’s parents abandoned their legal efforts after tests showed that the infant had irreversible muscular damage that could not be helped by the new treatment.

A final request to take Charlie home for his last days was also denied, with a British judge deciding that the boy would spend his final days in hospice care.

He died a week shy of his first birthday.

— With a file from Reuters