Annelise Camp died Monday after her breathing tube was removed, ending the fight over whether Texas Children’s Hospital could test the 2-year-old for brain death. Her parents had gone to court to stop the testing, but the case was overtaken by her death before it could resolve the question that had put the family and the hospital on opposite sides.
The family confirmed the death in social media posts. On the family GoFundMe page, Johnston Camp and Joy Camp wrote that Annelise is now with Jesus and said they prayed her legacy would continue to inspire compassion, encourage meaningful change, and bring hope to families for years to come. Rep. Steve Toth said the family had just told her two siblings.
The dispute began on Memorial Day, when Annelise was pulled from a hotel swimming pool and taken to Texas Children’s Hospital. She was placed on a ventilator, and after three days doctors said they had exhausted treatment options and recommended evaluating her for brain death. At the end of May, the Camps filed suit to stop the hospital from conducting that testing.
Brain death has a specific legal meaning in Texas: the irreversible cessation of all brain function. Once a patient is declared brain dead, hospitals can withdraw life-sustaining measures, and Texas law does not require a family’s consent before those tests are performed. In court filings, the family said the testing conflicted with their religious beliefs, while Texas Right to Life argued that a person remains alive as long as the heart is beating, even if breathing is being sustained by a ventilator.
That clash is what made the case so closely watched, but it also exposed the gap between what the family wanted and what the medical course allowed. The family hoped to block brain death testing to keep Annelise on life-supporting services as long as possible, yet she died after her breathing tube was removed, ending the legal fight in the hardest way possible. first reported her death.
