Legal bid to keep Archie’s life support on is crushed
The devastated parents of Archie Battersbee yesterday lost their Supreme Court bid to stop doctors withdrawing his life support.
A hospital treating the 12-year- old now intends to remove him from the ventilator and drug treatments which have kept him alive for months.
Archie’s mother hollie Dance hopes to take his case to the european Court of human Rights, but said she did not know if her lawyers could file an application in time. She said last night the hospital wanted to start the withdrawal at 11am today, adding: ‘This is cruel and we are absolutely appalled.’ Archie’s parents have
‘This is cruel and we are absolutely appalled’
been locked in an increasingly bitter legal dispute with an NhS trust since it applied to the high Court, asking for a ruling to allow it to stop Archie’s treatment.
he has been in a coma since he was found unconscious at his home in Southend, essex, in April. Doctors say his brain stem has died and that he will never recover.
A panel of three senior judges at the Supreme Court refused to allow the family to challenge an earlier decision from the Court of Appeal.
They said the Appeal Court ‘made the correct decision’ when it ruled that Archie’s treatment should not be prolonged to allow a possible review by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The review could take months, and doctors believe Archie’s condition will deteriorate over the next few weeks, leading to organ and heart failure.
The panel of Supreme Court judges, led by its deputy president Lord hodge, said the child had ‘no prospect of any meaningful recovery’. They praised Archie’s ‘devoted parents’, and said they had faced ‘every parent’s nightmare – the loss of a much-loved child’.
Miss Dance, who is separated from Archie’s father Paul Battersbee, said she felt ‘extremely disappointed’ by a refusal to allow her to move her son to a hospice. The family is maintaining a vigil at Archie’s bedside in the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel, east London. Family friend ella Carter said they were playing his favourite music and television shows, and messages sent by boxing stars. She added: ‘They’re constantly talking to him and telling him what’s been going on with the family and his friends.’ Archie was a keen martial arts fighter and aspiring Olympic gymnast until he suffered catastrophic brain damage after an accident at home, which his mother has blamed on an online ‘blackout’ challenge.
Barts health NhS Trust said it would work with Archie’s family to prepare for the withdrawal of treatment. Archie’s case has prompted calls for independent mediators to settle disputes between hospitals and families.