Good Morning Britain host Kate Garraway has opened up to Archie Battersbee’s mother about her “frenzy to fight” for her husband Derek Draper.
Hollie Dance was interviewed by the ITV presenter on Tuesday morning as the legal battle over her 12-yer-old son’s life nears an end.
Life support for Archie Battersbee is expected to be switched off on Tuesday after the Court of Appeal rejected a last-minute government bid to postpone the ending of his treatment.
Kate Garraway told Ms Dance: “I’ve had to had have conversations in my own head sometimes, when Derek was in the coma and in a state of minimum consciousness about how much…my frenzy to fight for him…was about me and my needs and how much was about him.”
Derek Draper has suffered ongoing issues after contracting Covid-19 in March 2020.
Kate Garraway asked Ms Dance: “I understand your fight, but I guess what the courts are there for are to manage our instinct and the right thing for the person…have you thought about that?”
Ms Dance responded by saying “of course”.
“If Archie was in pain or deteriorating the way it has been put over to the courts I would be feeling very different…but it’s not the case, and based on that..i find it very hard not to exhaust every option.”
'I had conversations with myself about how much my frenzy to fight for him, to check every possible option was about me & my needs and how much was about him.@kategarraway speaks to Archie Battersbee's mother about her own experience fighting for the life of a loved one. pic.twitter.com/KvB8NtQbSs
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) August 2, 2022
Ms Dance said Archie is “very much there, he’s progressing in so many ways”.
She claimed her son can hold his own temperature, blood pressure and is gaining weight.
“We know Archis is still with us,” she said.
The Government Legal Department has asked the High Court to “urgently consider” a UN request to prevent his life support being turned off.
The department said it had received a request from the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on Friday, asking for time for it to consider Archie’s case following an application from the family.
Meanwhile, Kate returned to Good Morning Britain on Monday after rushing to Derek’s bedside on July 9.
She told viewers: “Derek came out of hospital three weeks ago and we hadn’t had any medical eruptions.
“Then we were on air and I got a phone call from the person looking after him saying ‘we are really worried’. He was just really unwell.
“I whizzed home and it just went ‘boom’ from there.
“We called an ambulance, he went to A&E and they said he had very severe, life-threatening sepsis. It was really dramatic.”
Kate said that medics were working quickly to find the source of infection and find the right antibiotics to treat it.
“Unfortunately his kidneys were really badly infected, blocked, and the challenge now is to save them.”
Derek remains in hospital but he is no longer in ICU.
