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Alfie Evans has died, his family have said.

The 23-month-old, who suffered an undiagnosed brain condition, was at the centre of a long-running legal battle between his parents and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

His parents Tom Evans, 21, and Kate James, 20, wanted to take him abroad to Italy for further treatment - but doctors said this was not possible.

A devastated Kate announced Alfie's death this morning on Facebook.

She said: "Our baby boy grew his wings tonight at 2:30am. We are heartbroken. Thankyou everyone for all your support."

Tom also posted: "My gladiator lay down his shield and gained his wings... absolutely heartbroken."

(Image: Tom Evans)

Alfie, who was in a deep coma, had been suffering from a rare condition that doctors said had irreversibly destroyed much of his brain.

Earlier this year, a court ruled in the hospital’s favour and said it was in Alfie’s best interests to turn off his ventilation and start end-of-life care.

The tragic end to his short life came after a long legal battle by mum Kate James, 20, and dad Tom, 21, to keep up their search for treatment for his illness and seizures.

Their fight to keep Alfie alive saw them take the case to the High Court, Supreme Court and eventually The European Court of Human Rights - who ruled their case inadmissible and upheld the previous ruling.

The couple then made a final plea to the Court of Appeal - their second attempt at appealing - on April 16, when lawyers for the family argued that denying Alfie the right to go to Rome would be an infringement on his human rights under the Habeas Corpus (unlawful detention) argument.

However, Lord Justices Moylan and Davis, and Lady Justice King ruled there was no basis for the argument and upheld the previous ruling for a second time.

A further appeal to The Supreme Court was denied, and the European Court of Human Rights said they would not allow a further appeal.

(Image: PA)

A High Court judge denied the family's 'last-ditch' legal attempt at around 9pm on Monday night to appeal based on Alfie's newly-granted Italian citizenship.

Dismissing the appeal, Mr Justice Hayden said: "Alfie is a British citizen, he is undoubtedly habitually resident in the UK.

"He falls therefore under the jurisdiction of the High Court."

Alfie's ventilation was removed at 9.17pm on Monday, April 23. He was able to sustain his life for several days after receiving oxygen and hydration.

Alfie’s battle even got as far as The Vatican after Pope Francis shared a message of support for the family to his 17m Twitter followers during the last few days of Alfie’s life - and later met with Tom in Rome.

It read: “It is my sincere hope that everything necessary may be done in order to continue compassionately accompanying little Alfie Evans and that the deep suffering of his parents may be heard.

“I am praying for Alfie for his family and for all who are involved.”

Alder Hey children’s hospital originally took the matter to court because doctors said they had already exhausted all possible options for treatment, but could not persuade Alfie’s parents to end life support.

Staff at the leading hospital in West Derby had struggled to halt, slow down or even diagnose the rare condition, which a court heard could one day be called “Alfie’s disease”.

A doctor told one court hearing that Alfie had lost the ability to smile, and suggested he could probably no longer see or hear anything.

But Alfie’s parents took heart from what looked like signs of life - such as Alfie moving his arms, lips and fingers in response to being touched.

They saw in their son’s survival against the odds - with Alfie pulling through more than one illness his doctors said could kill him - a sure sign of inner strength.

But a judge ruled it was in Alfie's best interests for his treatment to be withdrawn and the "terrible reality" was that most of his brain had been destroyed by his condition.

Today the Bootle family said goodbye to their son after his life support was switched off.

During the legal battle, news of Alfie’s case spread across the globe, with hundreds of thousands of people joining ‘Alfie’s Army’ - a group of people dedicated to publicising his plight.