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Archie Battersbee’s Parents Lose Last Minute Appeal To Supreme Court

Archie Battersbee
Credit: Alamy

Archie Battersbee’s parents have lost a last-minute appeal to the Supreme Court which was an attempt to stop his life support machine from being turned off.

It had previously been confirmed by Royal London Hospital, where the 12-year-old is receiving treatment for life-threatening brain injuries, that they would withdraw his treatment on August 2.

However, his parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, have been desperately trying to stop this from happening.

Watch Archie Battersbee’s family and friends speak out below…

According to Sky News, the Supreme Court has issued a statement.

It reads: “Even if life-sustaining treatment were to be maintained, Archie would die in the course of the next few weeks through organ failure and then heart failure.”

Battersbee’s devastated mother appeared on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday morning.

She said: “We are having to battle over every decision with the hospital. There is nothing dignified in how we are being treated as a family in this situation. We do not understand what the rush is and why all of our wishes are being denied.

“I know Archie’s still with us. Archie’s showing very different signs to what the clinicians are actually putting over to the courts. He’s very much there, he’s progressing in so many ways.

“We pray for an encouraging response from the Supreme Court.”

Battersbee was found unconscious in his home back in May and has been on life support ever since.

They are hoping that by appealing to the Supreme Court, the United Nations (UN) will get involved with the 12-year-old’s case.

Archie Battersbee’s Life Support To Continue As Parents Push Hospice Move

His parents also believe that, if they end his life support, the UK will be breaching Articles 10 and 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights Of Disabled People, along with Article 6 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Children.

They state that every possible step must be taken to ensure that disabled people get equal rights and that governments should do all in their power to provoke the deaths of children.

Dance has previously stressed that ‘she would never give up’ on her son.

She reportedly commented: “When he is to die, we believe it should be in God’s way and in God’s time.

“What is the rush? Why is the hospital and the courts so keen to push this through as fast as possible?

“I don’t believe there is anything ‘dignified’ about planning Archie’s death. For me, this would be the most traumatic outcome.”

Doctors at the hospital have said that Battersbee is ‘brain-stem dead’ and that it is not within his best interest to keep him on life support.

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Written by Rosario Monachino

Rosario is a content editor at IGV who specialises in film, TV and entertainment news. He has a degree in English and Film from the University of Salford and a masters in Journalism from Liverpool John Moores University.