‘It’s the end,’ says Archie’s mother after ECHR rejection
ARCHIE BATTERSBEE’S mother last night appeared to admit the legal battle for her son’s life was at an end, after a last-minute appeal to the European Court of Human Rights ended in failure.
Hollie Dance and Archie’s father, Paul Battersbee, were denied an application that would have forced Barts Health NHS Trust to postpone the withdrawal of the 12-year-old’s life support.
The rejection by the ECHR came after the Supreme Court refused to compel the Royal London Hospital to carry on with treatment.
Archie’s parents were last night told by Barts Health NHS Trust that their son’s life support will be switched off at 11am today unless they submitted a further appeal against its decision not to move him to a hospice to die.
Ms Dance had released a statement after the ruling, repeating her vow to “fight to the end for Archie’s right to live” and suggesting the family could mount a new legal challenge to win the right to take Archie to receive treatment abroad.
However, asked by reporters outside the hospital whether this latest defeat felt different, she said: “It’s the end. It
‘We’ve now got a fight to see whether we can get him out of here to have a dignified passing at a hospice’
was the last thing, wasn’t it?”
She said the focus would now switch to making sure that Archie had peace and dignity in his death.
Ms Dance said: “We’ve now got a fight to see whether we can get him out of here to have a dignified passing at a hospice. He came to this hospital to have an operation, this hospital failed him.”
Ms Dance said earlier that the hospital had refused to sanction Archie’s move to a hospice.
Barts Trust told his parents they did not think it was “in his best interests” to die in a hospice, stating: “Archie’s condition is unstable and transferring him even a short distance involves significant risk.”
In the immediate aftermath of the ECHR ruling, the family spoke of trying to carry on the fight.
Representatives for the family told The Daily Telegraph: “Asking a court to allow Archie to be moved abroad for treatment is something they will urgently consider, now that they have failed at the ECHR.”
Ms Dance and Mr Battersbee had received offers of treatment for their son from doctors in Italy and Japan.
The case made to the ECHR by Archie’s family rested in part on a claim that the Royal London Hospital would be in breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities if it removed Archie’s treatment.
In a letter to Archie’s parents, the ECHR stated: “We regret to inform you ... the Court will not interfere with the decisions of the national courts to allow the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment to proceed.’’
Archie, from Southend, Essex, was left in a comatose state after suffering brain damage thought to have happened after he took part in an online challenge at his home on April 7.
Doctors at the Royal London believe he is brain-stem dead and that continued life-support is not in his best interests.
Alistair Chesser, chief medical officer for Barts Health NHS Trust, said: “As directed by the courts, we will work with the family to prepare for withdrawal of treatment, but we will make no changes to Archie’s care until the outstanding legal issues are resolved.”
A spokesman for the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting the family’s campaign, told The Telegraph last night: “Clearly the aim of the trust is to break us and the family. Archie’s parents are going to do everything humanly possible.”