Alfie Evans’ family have paid tribute to their ‘gladiator’ son after he died.
A statement posted by the parents of the Bootle toddler confirmed that he passed away at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in the early hours of Saturday.
Tom Evans and Kate James had fought a lengthy legal battle to take Alfie to a Rome hospital for treatment on his brain condition but were ultimately unsuccessful.
“Our baby boy grew his wings tonight at 2:30am,” confirmed Kate.
“We are heart broken. Thank you everyone for all your support.”
Writing on Facebook, Mr Evans added: “My gladiator lay down his shield and gained his wings… absolutely heartbroken.”
Tributes have poured in for the 23-month-old from across Merseyside, including Everton FC, while TV host Piers Morgan also offered his condolences to the Evans family.
RIP Alfie Evans. Everybody at the Club is deeply saddened by the loss of the brave young Evertonian. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. 💙
— Everton (@Everton) April 28, 2018
“RIP Alfie Evans. My deepest condolences to his parents, who fought so hard for their brave little boy”, Morgan wrote on Twitter.
Alder Hey have requested that anyone wishing to leave tributes to Alfie places them at Springfield Park, which sits next to the West Derby hospital.
“We wish to express our heartfelt sympathy and condolences to Alfie’s family at this extremely distressing time,” read a statement.
“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.”