A 12-year-old boy who has been in a coma for 4 months died Saturday at a London health facility after medical doctors ended life-sustaining remedy that used to be the topic of a long court docket fight.
Archie Battersbee’s mom, Hollie Dance, stated he died at 12:15 p.m. native time, about two hours after the health facility started retreating remedy.
British courts had rejected the circle of relatives’s request to switch Archie to a hospice, and the European Court of Human Rights refused for a 2nd time to interfere within the case.
“He fought until the very end,” Dance said, weeping outside the hospital. “I’m the proudest mum in the world.”
Archie’s care became the subject of weeks of legal arguments as his parents sought to force the hospital to continue life-sustaining treatments, while doctors argued there was no chance of recovery and he should be allowed to die.
The family asked for permission to move the boy to a hospice after British courts ruled it was in his best interests to end treatment.
The hospital said Archie’s condition was so unstable that moving him would hasten his death.
On Friday, High Court Judge Lucy Theis rejected the family’s request, saying Archie should remain in the hospital while treatment was withdrawn.
The dispute is the latest U.K. case pitting the judgment of doctors against the wishes of families.
Under British law, it is common for courts to intervene when parents and doctors disagree on a child’s medical treatment.
In such cases, the best interests of the child take primacy over the parents’ right to decide what they believe is best for their offspring.
Archie was found unconscious at home with a ligature over his head on April 7. His parents believe he may have been taking part in an online challenge that went wrong.
Doctors concluded Archie was brain-stem dead soon after the accident and sought to end the long list of treatments that kept him alive, including artificial respiration, medication to regulate his bodily functions and round-the-clock nursing care.
But his family objected, claiming Archie had shown signs of life and wouldn’t have wanted them to give up hope.
Ella Carter, fiance of Archie’s eldest brother, Tom, said Archie was stable for about two hours after the hospital stopped all medication. That changed when the ventilator was turned off, she said.
“He went completely blue,” she said. “There is absolutely nothing dignified about watching a family member or a child suffocate. No family should ever have to go through what we’ve been through. It’s barbaric.”
Carter put her head on Dance’s shoulder and sobbed as the 2 girls hugged.
The health facility expressed its condolences and thanked the medical doctors and nurses who had taken care of Archie.
“They supplied prime quality care with bizarre compassion over a number of months in steadily making an attempt and distressing cases,” stated Alistair Chesser, leader scientific officer of Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs the health facility.
“This tragic case no longer simplest affected the circle of relatives and his carers however touched the hearts of many around the nation.”
