THE PUBLIC will be welcomed to the funeral of a 10-month-old baby who lost his fight for life this week.
Luke Winston-Jones was seriously ill with a hole in his heart and also suffered from Edwards' syndrome. He died in hospital on Friday, just weeks after his Northwich family had travelled to the High Court in London in a dispute over his care.
His family say there will be a service held on Saturday to celebrate his life.
Luke's Aunt Jackie Kirkham, who lives in Lach Dennis, says the whole family was completely devastated at his death. She said: 'We are all just existing at the moment but we will be celebrating his life at Aberffraw on Anglesey on Saturday.
'Luke was a strong character and we will be celebrating that with floral tributes as well as a children's choir.'
She added all those who have supported Luke's battle since his birth in January would be able to go along to the service if they wished. She said: 'I imagine there will be an enormous turnout. It is not private, you can't push people away when they have been supporting him.'
She added Luke's mum, Ruth Winston-Jones, who used to live in North-wich, had been hit hard by his death. Jackie said: 'She is dealing with it very badly but she is very up and down.'
Luke was given only days to live when he was diagnosed with the genetic disorder Edwards' syndrome shortly after his birth in January. When he was born he also had three holes in his heart, but two of these closed up naturally. Babies with Edwards' syndrome, have an average life-span of under two months.
Luke's family travelled to the High Court in October to fight a legal challenge launched by Alder Hey Hospital, which wanted to stop certain treatments if his life-threatening condition worsened.
After a two-day hearing, which hit the headlines throughout the country, the doctors were told they could withhold life-saving treatment by mechanical ventilation if his condition deteriorated but that he could receive cardiac massage if it became necessary.
Shortly before his death his family said they were considering approaching private specialists to see if the hole in his heart could be repaired.
