St. Louis ( CNN ) -- A 1-year-old boy whose family fought a Canadian hospital over whether he should be allowed to die received a tracheotomy at his St. Louis hospital early Monday morning . Officials at the SSM Cardinal Glennon Children 's Medical Center where Joseph Maraachli -- widely known in the media as `` baby Joseph '' -- is being treated , wrote that following a thorough examination by a multi-disciplinary team of specialists and ethicists , a tracheotomy was deemed `` medically appropriate '' for the child . The surgical procedure creates an opening into the airway through an incision in the neck , and a tube allows for suction of fluid out of the lungs . According to the hospital , this creates a safe and stable way to use a mechanical ventilator . Joseph , who was born in January 2010 , had been in the care of the London Health Sciences Centre in Canada since October . His doctor , in court papers , said there was no hope for recovery and recommended that the infant 's breathing tube be removed and he be allowed to die . The hospital would not perform a tracheotomy because they consider it to be an invasive procedure , one not typically recommended for patients who require a long-term breathing machine . The child 's parents , Moe and Sana Maraachli , refused to comply with court orders and sought instead to have their son transferred to a location where he could get a tracheotomy combined with continued mechanical ventilation and later be transferred home into their care . Physicians at Cardinal Glennon say Joseph suffers from a rare genetic neurometabolic disorder called Leigh Syndrome . According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders . The condition is characterized by the degeneration of the central nervous system and is inherited in most cases . In February , a family spokesperson told CNN the Maraachlis have undergone genetic testing , but no genetic link had been found . Joseph will remain in the intensive care unit for seven to 10 days and then head to Ranken Jordan , a pediatric specialty hospital in St. Louis , before being discharged and transported to his family home in Windsor , Ontario .
Canadian doctors had refused , citing no hope for recovery . The next day the doctor was found dead in his office with a gunshot wound to the head and an apparent suicide note saying he wanted to die alone. Boy has rare genetic disorder .