The family tried to prevent the shutdown of devices that kept the child alive, but treatment was suspended with the permission of the Justice this Saturday.
Archie Battersbee, 12, died on Saturday, who had been in a coma for nearly four months in London, UK. With irreversible brain damage, the boy’s family believes he had an accident after performing a viral challenge on a social network. The case also gained notoriety because of the legal fight between relatives to try to prevent his life support from being turned off. The treatment ended at 12:15, local time.
“He fought to the end. I’m so proud to be his mother,” Archie’s mother, Hollie Dance, told reporters outside the hospital.
On Monday, a UK court authorized the shutdown of the devices after doctors at the Royal Hospital in London claimed that continued life-support treatment was not in the boy’s best interests.
The family then submitted proposals to the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, and European Court of Human Rights asking for the decision to be overturned, but it was upheld. The Supreme Court concluded that even if life support was maintained, the child would die over the next few weeks from organ failure and heart failure.
The parents then asked that he be transferred to a palliative care unit, justifying that he would have a “natural death”, but the Justice did not accept the proposal. Experts argued that the removal would only cause more suffering and even hasten Archie’s death.
The boy was found unconscious at his home on April 7 and has been hospitalized ever since. He was kept alive by a combination of interventions such as ventilation and medication.
From the beginning, doctors concluded that he was brain dead, but the family insisted that the treatment must continue, claiming that the boy’s heart was still beating and that he held his mother’s hand. The responsible team guarantees, however, that vital signs have never been recorded since the patient arrived at the hospital.
Hollie believes that her son was a victim of the challenge known as the “Blackout Challenge”, viral on the social network Tik Tok, which consists of squeezing his neck until he loses consciousness due to lack of oxygen.
Following Archie’s death, the Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, issued a statement expressing solidarity with the family and praising the work of the team treating him.
“Our sympathies and sincere condolences remain with them at this difficult time. We would like to thank the medical, nursing, and support staff of the pediatric intensive care department who cared for Archie. They provided high-quality care with extraordinary compassion in difficult and distressing circumstances. This tragic case not only affected the family and their caregivers, but touched the hearts of many across the country,” the statement reads.
Amelia Warner
Amelia Warner writes all the Latest Articles. She mostly covers Entertainment topics, but at times loves to write about movie reviews as well.
