The NHS trust involved in a legal battle with a teenager over her treatment before her death can now be named as University Hospitals Birmingham.

Sudiksha Thirumalesh, 19, who had a rare mitochondrial disorder, was fighting the trust in court over their decision to move her on to palliative care.

The Court of Protection heard Ms Thirumalesh wanted to travel to North America for a potential clinical trial, described as “experimental”.

Judges were told the A-level student was a “fighter”, and that she had told a psychiatrist: “This is my wish. I want to die trying to live. We have to try everything.”

Lawyers for the trust had argued Ms Thirumalesh was “actively dying” and was suffering severe respiratory episodes.

She died on 12 September following a respiratory and cardiac arrest.

During her court battle with the trust, reporting restrictions meant she could only be referred to as ST.

Following her death, her family and their lawyers returned to the Court of Protection and successfully argued she and her family could be named publicly in relation to the case.

After that decision, her brother Varshan Chellamal Thirumalesh, said the family had been “gagged” and “intimidated”.

He said: “After a year of struggle and heartache we can finally say our beautiful daughter and sister’s name in public without fear: she is Sudiksha. She is Sudiksha Thirumalesh, not ST.

“Despite our grief and the continuing shock over everything we have been through, today a part of us is at peace.

“Sudiksha was a wonderful daughter and sister who we will cherish forever. We cannot imagine life without her.

“We seek justice for Sudiksha today, and for others in her situation.”

He added: “We have never been out for revenge, we just want justice and to be able to tell our and Sudiksha’s story.

“We want to thank the medical practitioners who did their best for Sudiksha. To those few clinicians who seemed only to care about Sudiksha dying, we forgive you.”

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