Archie Battersbee’s mum has revealed the heartbreaking words she spoke to her 12-year-old son after a High Court judge granted her the right to appeal the decision to have his life-support treatment end.
Archie’s mum Hollie Dance found her son unconscious at his Essex home on 7 April and it’s thought he suffered brain damage while taking part in an online challenge.
The young lad has never regained consciousness and earlier this month a judge ruled that Archie’s life support treatment should be turned off.
Hollie watched yesterday’s (20 June) hearing remotely, and as it played out, told Archie he has ‘more time’.
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Hollie shared with The Mirror: “I’m so relieved that someone is giving him a chance. That’s all we ever wanted, more time to heal. I’m so emotional. I watched it from Archie’s bedside – I made sure he couldn’t hear or see it but I was with him through it.”
She added: “When it finished I held his hand and told him he had been given more time. I can’t stress this enough, if a parent doesn’t want to hold on to hope or they believe it’s not in their child’s best interest, that’s absolutely fine.”
Hollie also told the outlet that she ‘won’t give up’ and that the fate of her son ‘should be his parents’ decision’.
"His heart is still beating, he has gripped my hand, and as his mother and by my mother's instinct, I know my son is still there," she added.
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During Monday’s hearing, Archie’s family’s barrister, Edward Devereux QC, argued that the ‘gravity’ of the situation required that the judge be ‘satisfied beyond reasonable doubt’ and not make decisions ‘based on the balance of probabilities’.
According to the BBC, he also claimed that the court hadn’t accommodated Archie’s family’s religious views, which he said was also a ground of appeal.
Earlier this month, doctors treating Archie at the Royal London hospital told the judge, Mrs Justice Arbuthnot, that the young boy was ‘brain-stem dead’.
Arbuthnot then ruled at that hearing: "I find that Archie died at noon on May 31, 2022, which was shortly after the MRI scans taken that day.
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"I find that irreversible cessation of brain stem function has been conclusively established.
"I give permission to the medical professionals at the Royal London Hospital to cease to ventilate mechanically Archie Battersbee."
Speaking to The Guardian at the time, Hollie said she believed the judge had made 'quite a few mistakes' in the case and claimed to have seen small signs that Archie's health was improving.
“Archie should be given a lot longer,” she said.
“There are Covid patients who get six months to a year and are on ventilators struggling for their life. Archie has had eight very short weeks and we have been in and out of court.”
Aisha Nozari