Baby Gregory, center of custody fight between parents and doctors, dies of rare disease
By The Associated Press
Posted 3:05AM on Tuesday, December 2, 2003
<p>A disabled boy who sparked a legal battle between his parents and doctors has died.</p><p>Gregory David Bryant-Bruce Jr., who was known as Baby Gregory, died in his sleep Sunday at his grandmothers house in Belmont, Calif. He was 10 years old.</p><p>Gregory died from complications from Alagilles syndrome, a rare liver disease that he had all his life.</p><p>When Gregory was a baby, he was taken from his parents and given to foster parents after doctors at Vanderbilt University Medical Center detected brain hemorrhages and damaged retinas, which they attributed to Shaken Baby Syndrome.</p><p>His parents were determined to prove their innocence and took Gregory from his foster parents in 1995, sneaking him to Egleston Childrens Hospital in Atlanta for a second opinion. Doctors eventually diagnosed him with Alagilles, and a judge returned Gregory to his parents.</p><p>He lived the last few months of his life to the fullest, said his mother, Dr. Cheryl Bryant-Bruce. He took a trip to Disneyland and got to dance with (Disney characters) Lilo and Stitch, which is what he wanted. On Thanksgiving Day, the fire department made him a junior firefighter and got him a Christmas tree.</p><p>A lawsuit filed by the Bryant-Bruces against Vanderbilt University Medical Center was settled in 2000 for $100,000 to pay for the medical costs. The family moved to California last year.</p><p>Information from: Constitution</p>