Earlier this week, Evans had been granted Italian citizenship in hopes that this would convince the court to allow him to be sent to Rome to be treated at the Vatican's Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital. The judge, however, ruled that this would not be within his best interest and he would not be allowed to travel to Rome or Munich, where another hospital had offered to treat him. An air ambulance had been at the ready to quickly transport Evans to Italy had the judge approved the transfer.
Instead, Evans will remain at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, or may eventually be permitted to return home with his parents.
Evans is a 23-month-old toddler who is in what physicians have described as a "semi-vegetative state" due to a mysterious degenerative neurological condition that doctors at Alder Hey Hospital have not been able to properly diagnose. He has been hospitalized since December of 2016.
In March, London's Court of Appeal upheld a lower court's decision to end life support for Evans. Judge Hayden of the High Court ruled that "continued ventilator support is no longer in Alfie's interests."
Evans' parents, Kate James and Tom Evans, had repeatedly made requests to transfer him to the Vatican-linked Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital in Rome, for further diagnosis and treatment.
They said that Evans had recently grown "stronger and more responsive," noting that he could take a few breaths on his own and was stretching, coughing, swallowing, and yawning. However, Alder Hey Hospital repeatedly refused the transfer, deeming it "futile."