HOUSTON – After a long legal battle to keep him on life support, 10-month-old Nick Torres died at home Tuesday after being released from the hospital to his family.
In a statement, hospital officials confirmed Nick’s release.
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Dr. Joseph Varon, of United Memorial Medical Center, said he helped transport Nick from the hospital to his home, where he died a couple of hours later.
“It would appear that the baby waited until he got home so that he could move on,” Varon said.
Varon said that when Nick’s heartbeat started to slow, the family surrounded him and began praying. He said it was a very emotional moment for not only Nick’s family but the medical staff who were attending to him.
“It was very tough,” Varon said. “Even the assistants that I brought with me, you could see that they were tearing because it was very emotional.”
Baby Nick had been at Texas Children’s Hospital since late September after being found unresponsive in a bathtub by one of his parents after he was left unattended in the tub.
Doctors at the hospital claimed Nick was brain dead and that he should be taken off life support, but family members pleaded with doctors to keep him on life support because his heart was still beating.
After several appeals to the courts, judges ruled that the hospital could remove Nick from life support.
Over the weekend, the family’s attorney said that the hospital had agreed to release Nick into the family’s care.
“I think this is going to allow them to have some closure,” Varon said.