A 2-year-old at the center of a Texas brain-death dispute is taken off life support and dies
Published: August 7, 2026 at 11:02 AM
Updated: August 7, 2026 at 1:59 PM
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Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
A portion of the Texas Children’s Hospital campus is seen on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, in Houston. /Ashley Landis)
HOUSTON – A 2-year-old girl whose parents sued a Texas hospital to prevent it from testing if she was brain-dead after she drowned in a hotel pool on Memorial Day has been removed from life support and died, her family said this week
Annelise Camp “is now with Jesus,” her parents Johnston and Joy Camp said in a statement, weeks after a judge granted a temporary injunction in their favor. “While our hearts are broken, we trust in His perfect love, His faithfulness, and His promises.”
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The family had long said she still showed signs of life and wanted more time for her to recover and explore treatment
Breathing tubes were removed from Annelise on Monday, her grandfather Steve Camp posted online. “When this procedure was done, she passed very quickly.”
A church service for Annelise is scheduled for next Wednesday in Houston
The Texas Right to Life organization supported the family’s case
“This victory gave the Camp family two extra months with Annelise and provided her a chance to recover from her injury,” the organization posted online
Annelise was discovered unconscious in the hotel pool and was brought to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Several days later, her parents petitioned the judge, requesting that she not be tested for brain death as advised by doctors
Court documents said Annelise’s heart was beating, although she was dependent on a ventilator, The Texas Tribune reported
The Camps also asked that Annelise be transferred to another hospital to explore other treatment options. However, Texas Children’s stated it wanted to conduct testing to determine next steps in her medical care and that it had no imminent plans to end care for Annelise
Texas Children’s officials said in court documents they had contacted medical facilities to ask about accepting Annelise, but 35 of the 36 have declined and the one pending hospital said it needed her to undergo brain death testing to consider transfer, the Tribune reported
The Camps eventually were able to transfer Annelise to a hospital in Louisiana
A state legislator, Rep. Steve Toth, told The New York Times that Annelise was brought back to Texas about a week ago and had been treated at Christus Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler. Messages seeking comment were sent to Roth and the hospital
The Camps did not say why Annelise was removed from life support. Messages seeking comment were sent to the family
Texas law defines brain death as the irreversible cessation of brain function. Under the law, once a patient is declared brain-dead, a hospital can withdraw life-sustaining measures
“The big common denominator is time,” Johnston Camp told KRIV-TV in June. “And so when you have time, I know scientifically you can see a certain reading, but she is showing progressive results from her body or complexions, her vitals.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also supported the family
“Annelise Camp is fighting for her life and deserves a medical team that will fight just as hard,” he posted on X in June
In July, the Camps had posted on a GoFundMe site that Annelise continued to show “encouraging signs” at the Louisiana hospital
“We are pursuing every available option, including specialized and exploratory treatments that show promise,” they added
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