Thomas Creedon was born severely brain-damaged. Unable to see or hear, he was kept alive only through modern medicine. His quality of life was such that his parents were prepared to take their case to the high court to fight for the right to let their son die. Thomas died of natural causes before his future could be decided in the courts. But for other families the same dilemmas still apply. Sarah Barclay reports.

Note: as Panorama is topical and likely to react to events in the news, the above programme may change.