Cal Gaunt
The family of Archie Battersbee have demanded an inquiry following his death.
According to Sky News, the 12-year-old died at Royal London Hospital shortly after midday on Saturday after his life support was switched off following desperate but failed attempts by his mother, Hollie Dance, to have him moved into hospice care.
A statement from the family after Battersbee’s passing, released by Christian Concern, said: “We want something good to come out of this tragedy and the horrendous experience we have been put through by the system.
Watch as Archie Battersbee’s family talk about his life support being switched off…
“We have been forced to fight a relentless legal battle by the Hospital Trust while faced with an unimaginable tragedy.
“We were backed into a corner by the system, stripped of all our rights, and have had to fight for Archie’s real ‘best interests’ and right to live with everything stacked against us.
“This has now happened too often to parents who do not want their critically ill children to have life-support removed.”
They also said the ‘pressure of the process has been unbelievable’.
Archie Battersbee ‘Cannot Be Moved To Hospice,’ High Court Rules
It continued: “There must be an investigation and inquiry through the proper channels on what has happened to Archie, and we will be calling for change.”
It was announced on Friday that an application to the High Court to have Battersbee moved to a hospice had been refused.
Dance had previously said she wanted her son – who had a ligature on the brain and had been comatose since April – moved from Royal London Hospital so he could ‘spend his last moments’ privately with family.
According to Sky News, the judge said of the application: “Archie’s best interests must remain at the core of any conclusions reached by this court,” after his position was described as ‘difficult and increasingly compromised’.
Medical experts said the risks involved in the transfer were ‘major and unpredictable,’ with which the judge agreed.
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