High Court Rules Life-Support Of 12-Year Old Brain-Damaged Boy In Coma Should Stop

By Samantha in Heartbreaking On 13th June 2022
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A high court order has been given regarding the treatment of Archie Battersbee which states that the doctors should stop with the child's treatment as it was 'highly likely' he was 'brain-stem dead'.

According to the reports, the child was found by his family unconscious at their family home in Southend, Essex, on April 7 and has been in a coma since then. He is at the Royal London Hospital in east London.

Archie has been on life support for some time and doctors are not hopeful that the child will make it and so they have requested for his life support to be removed. However, the child's parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee denied the request.

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The parents of the child say their son's heart is still beating and he also gripped his mother's hand.

But their request has been overruled when Mrs. Justice Arbuthnot issued a written ruling in which she concluded Archie died at noon on 31 May, based on 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," the ruling stated.

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The decision from the high court comes after Archie was admitted to the hospital in an emergency after suffering from a brain injury at home.

His mother has expressed belief his injury may have been related to an online challenge.

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Following Arbuthnot's decision, Dance said she was 'devastated and extremely disappointed'.

"After weeks of fighting a legal battle, when I wanted to be by my little boy's bedside, basing the judgment on an MRI test – and that he is likely to be dead – is not good enough. This is believed to be the first time that someone has been declared 'likely to be dead' by an MRI test," she said.

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Dance said she feels 'sickened at the hospital' and claimed the judge had 'failed', saying Archie had not been given enough time and that his 'heart is still beating'.

"Until it's God's way I won't accept that he should go," she said.

Alistair Chesser, the Royal London Hospital's Group Chief Medical Officer, said Archie will be provided with the 'best possible care' as he is taken off life support, Sky News reports.

In a statement made outside the court, he commented:

"We are also ensuring there is time for the family whether they wish to appeal before any changes to care are made."

Dance has confirmed plans to appeal the judge's ruling, describing the decision as 'only the start' and saying she 'will not give up the fight' for her son.