After his parents used all of their legal options in a dispute over his care, the family of a 12-year-old boy who has been in a coma for four months anticipates that a London hospital will start discontinuing life-sustaining medication on Saturday.
According to Hollie Dance, the mother of Archie Battersbee, hospital staff notified the family that the boy’s therapy will finish at 10 a.m.
The family’s appeal to have Archie transferred to a hospice was denied by British courts on Friday, and the European Court of Human Rights declined to become involved in the matter a second time.
Dance admitted to being “quite devastated” following the nightmare that started on April 7 when Archie was discovered unconscious and that there was nothing extra the family could do to Britain’s Sky News.
She said through tears, “I’ve done all I promised my little boy I would do.
Dance’s assertion has not been corroborated by the Royal London Hospital, where Archie was receiving treatment.
As Archie’s parents fought the hospital to keep up life-supporting measures, and as doctors said there was no prospect of recovery and he should be allowed to die, Archie’s care became the focus of weeks of court disputes.
After British courts determined that Archie’s treatment should terminate, the family requested permission to transfer him to a hospice.
Archie’s health was so fragile, according to the hospital, that relocating him might expedite his demise.
Judge Lucy Theis of the High Court denied the family’s request on Friday, stating that Archie should stay in the hospital while treatment was discontinued.
“I circled back to where I began, realising the gravity of what awaits Archie’s parents and the entire family.
A golden thread that unites this case is their unwavering love and devotion for Archie, Thies noted in her ruling.
“I hope now that Archie can be given the chance to die in peace, with the family who meant so much to him as he clearly did to them,” she said.
The argument pits medical expertise against family preferences in the most recent case to be heard in the United Kingdom.
When parents and medical professionals disagree over a child’s course of treatment, courts frequently step in under British law.
In such circumstances, the child’s best interests take precedence over the parents’ right to determine what they think is in their children’s best interests.