Mum Of 'Brain Dead' Boy Speaks Out After Court Rules His Treatment Should End

Archie's mother Hollie Dance says her son had suffered brain damage during an incident at home, potentially from an online challenge.

Doctors at the Royal London Hospital in east London previously suggested that it was 'highly likely' he was 'brain-stem dead'.

Hollie, from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, said: "I was told my son would not last the night when he arrived in hospital. Yet here he is ten weeks later. He’s a fighter, and is fighting the battle of his life — how can I not fight every bit as hard?

"All we have ever asked for is time. People are in comas for months but the hospital wanted to pronounce my son dead after just three days when he was still under sedation.

"Archie should be treated as a living patient until it can be proven that he’s not — and the MRI scan they have relied on is not proof.

"What I know is that a boy who can squeeze my hand is not brain dead. I defy any mother not to do the same if they were in my situation.

"Don’t get me wrong, I’ve shed plenty of tears.

"But I’ve had to detach myself emotionally in order to fight for Archie. It’s the only way I can cope. Otherwise I will let him down and I cannot do that."

Hollie is being supported by her second husband, Paul Battersbee, who she was married 10 years to.

Although the couple split up when Archie was six, they have come together during the current trauma.

She added: "When something like this happens it puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?

"He was a lovely baby from day one."

Archie is a big lover of gymnastics and showcased his talent at an early age, while also training at the same gym as Olympic champion Max Whitlock.

On Monday, 13 June, Judge Arbuthnot said: "I find that Archie died at noon on May 31, 2022, which was shortly after the MRI scans taken that day.

"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."