Archie Battersbee's mum has warned parents to ensure their children do not take part in dangerous viral challenges on social media. Archie, 12, was rushed into hospital in April after being found unconscious by his mum in his bedroom after suffering a catastrophic brain injury.
The schoolboy has been unable to regain consciousness and has remained in a coma since. Doctors treating Archie declared him as being brain-stem dead.
Since the accident, Archie’s separated parents Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee have launched several appeals to continue his treatment. A judge yesterday ruled that Archie’s life-support should be turned off after his family lost a last-minute legal appeal to keep him alive.
The Court of Appeal granted Archie a short stay, or delay, until 12pm today, after which his ventilator can be turned off by staff at The Royal London Hospital. It is believed that prior to the accident, Archie, from Southend, had been taking part in a dangerous viral challenge which had been circulating on social media.
His mum urged parents to be vigilant and aware of popular trends online, which children could replicate to try and go viral, report Manchester Evening News. Hollie said: “Please, please, parents, have the conversation with your children because I know there’s a whole new lot of online challenges.
“Please have these talks with your children because I think this seems to have been buried, you know, and I think it’s important. I don’t want any parent out there to have what we’ve been going through and I definitely don’t want to see any more children losing their lives.”
Yesterday's ruling came after Archie’s parents had previously applied to the UN as part of a last-ditch effort to prevent his treatment from being stopped. In turn, the committee contacted the government on Friday with the government’s legal department writing an urgent letter on Sunday on behalf of Health Secretary Steve Barclay, requesting the court to consider the committee’s request.
Furthermore, a legal “stay” to prevent treatment from ending was put in place until 1pm on Monday so the Court of Appeal could finalise a decision. Mr Deverux said the committee’s request was “binding” under international law.
The court dismissed the family’s application for a further stay and refused to grant permission to appeal the ruling at the Supreme Court.
In giving his ruling, Sir Andrew McFarlane said: “Every day that (Archie) continues to be given life-sustaining treatment is contrary to his best interests and, so, a stay, even for a short time, is against his best interests.”
The family said they still intend to appeal the decision. Outside the court, Hollie said: “We made a promise to Archie, we will fight to the end. And Archie’s still fighting. If [Tuesday's] the last day then so be it, but we will be applying to the Supreme Court.”
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