Should Archie Battersbee's life-support treatment stop? UK court says yes, but his parents disagree
Archie Battersbee
Archie Battersbee is a 12-year-old boy in the United Kingdom, who suffered catastrophic brain damage. On April 7, 2022, Archie got seriously injured at his home in Southend, Essex. He was found unconscious with a ligature over his head.
What is Archie's health condition?
When the tragic accident happened, Archie was found unconscious with a ligature over his head.
Since then, he is in a comatose state and has not regained consciousness.
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The court case in UK
The case of Archie Battersbee is at the centre of a UK legal dispute on life-support treatment.
Initially, the High Court ruled that life support treatment for Archie should be stopped as he is "brain-stem dead".
What do the parents say?
His parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, argued against it but they failed to persuade Supreme Court to intervene. But her mother said she would keep fighting.
Archie’s parents say that his heart is beating and they also claimed Archie is breathing on his own.
As quoted by UK-based media outlets, Hollie once said: "Words cannot describe how devastated we are. The pressure put on us from the beginning to rush through the process of ending Archie's life has been disgraceful. We will continue fighting for Archie and will not give up."
Archie's mother appeals to health secretary
In the latest development, Archie's parents on July 30 appealed to the Health Secretary to prevent his life support treatment from being withdrawn "as early as Monday".
As quoted by media outlets, Archie's mother wrote a letter to Stephen Barclay, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Hollie explained the trust intends to "proceed to remove life support from Archie as early as on Monday 1 August".
She added, "If this happens, this will be an extraordinary cruelty, and a flagrant breach of Archie's rights as a disabled person. Archie is entitled to have the decisions about his life and death, taken by the NHS and UK courts, to be scrutinised by an international human rights body."
As quoted by BBC, a Department for Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: "We recognise this is an exceptionally difficult time for Archie Battersbee's family and our thoughts are with them. We have received the letter and will respond in due course."
What's next?
The doctors who were treating Archie at the Royal London Hospital in east London had told the High Court it was "highly likely" he was "brain-stem dead" and they told the court that the life support should end.
Their lawyers want assurances that treatment would not stop until they could apply to United Nations.
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