This ground breaking case is the first in which the Court has authorised the withdrawal of artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH) from an incapable patient who, although in a state of very reduced consciousness, is clinically stable and still exhibiting some awareness. The decision puts the autonomy of the patient firmly at the heart of judicial decision making: as the judge remarks this is not a case about the right to die but concerns the right of this unfortunate woman to live her life at the end of her days in a way that she would have wished. Respect for her human dignity and her freedom overwhelms the presumption that there should be any further prolongation of her life.