FORT WORTH, Texas _ A girl at the center of a far-reaching court battle over life and death issues has died.
Payton Summons, a cancer-ridden 9-year-old, died Friday evening after an appeals court ruled that the hospital where she was being kept on a ventilator could not remove her from life support, said Paul Stafford, one of the attorneys representing the girl's family.
"At Cook Children's, we mourn the loss of any young life and we understand that this has been a difficult and heartbreaking time for this family," said Winifred King, hospital spokeswoman. "Out of respect for Payton and her parents we feel it inappropriate to comment at this time."
Attorneys for Cook Children's Medical Center had appealed a judge's decision extending an order to maintain the girl on life support until Monday.
Payton, who had a tumor that was cutting off her circulation and stopping her from being able to breathe on her own, came to Cook Children's Medical Center on Sept. 25, according to hospital officials. She was declared brain dead by medical professionals within 24 hours after her arrival.
Attorneys for Payton's parents said in their response to the appeals challenge, that the girl's mother and father reacted in the way that any parents would faced with a similar situation.
"Cook Children's has stated that it is "medically, ethically, and morally repugnant" to provide such care to Payton," Stafford said. "Payton's parents and supporters find it "repugnant" for Cook Children's to refuse to allow an agreed resolution of this matter, and to have initiated an emergency appellate procedure seeking the legal right to effectively terminate life-sustaining measures for a nine-year-old girl without the consent of her parents and without exhausting all potential facilities and options for Payton's possible treatment and care.
"Cook Children's actions are contrary to the best interests of the child, the wishes of her parents, the order of the court, existing law, the hospital's own written policies, the will of the public, and the spirit of compassion.
"Payton's parents are grateful that the court of appeals agrees with them and denied Cook's writ."
On Monday, State District Judge Melody Wilkinson granted the girl's parents an additional week to find a health care facility that would care for their daughter. The hospital's attorneys appealed the judge's decision, and filed a motion about 4:15 p.m. Tuesday asking that the order granting the extension be vacated.
Payton was due to be taken off life support at Cook Children's at 1:20 p.m. last Monday. A motion to extend the girl's time on life support was filed by the family's lawyers about 11:15 a.m., a few hours before a temporary restraining order was set to expire.
The extended order would have expired at 6 p.m. this Monday, and the expiration of the order would have cleared the way for the hospital to remove Payton from life support.
Last Monday, the court agreed with the attorneys representing Payton's mother and father, Tiffany Hofstetter and Joseph Summons, that an extension in this circumstance was appropriate.
The hospital's lawyers appealed that decision Tuesday, arguing that Payton "suffered a complete, irreversible destruction of her entire brain, including her brain stem. As such, there is no treatment that can be provided for her, at Cook or at any other facility, that will keep P.S. alive."
P.S. refers to Payton Summons in the appeal document.
