Tearful Archie Battersbee's mum vows to 'fight to the end' to keep son alive as judge rejects plea

1 August 2022, 16:17 | Updated: 2 August 2022, 05:26

Archie Battersbee's mother has vowed to "fight to the end" to keep her son on life-support after a court ruled it could be switched off at midday.

A court has ruled today that the 12-year-old's life support can be switched off after his heartbroken parents were unable to convince the Court of Appeal to let a UN committee examine his case.

But Archie's family have pledged to "continue to fight" as they branded the UK a "disgusting let-down" for denying their son more time to "recover".

During a court hearing this afternoon, Sir Andrew McFarlane, sitting with Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Moylan, said: "My decision is that, save for granting a short stay until 12 noon tomorrow, the parents' application for any further stay is dismissed."

In his ruling, Sir Andrew McFarlane referred to the medical evidence before Mr Justice Hayden, who ruled on July 15 that Archie's life-sustaining treatment should be withdrawn.

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The judge said: "In short, his system, his organs and, ultimately, his heart are in the process of closing down. The options before the court have always been stark."

Sir Andrew said the options before the courts on previous occasions were either that treatment was withdrawn immediately, resulting in Archie's death a short while later, or the option favoured by his parents that he would die at some time in the coming weeks - in their words at a time "chosen by God".

He added: "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."

On the remote link, after explaining why Archie's life support shouldn't be extended, President of Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane asked the other Judges if they agreed: "I agree" they both replied.

Hollie Dance, Archies mother, then unmuted herself to tell the Judges: "I don't."

Archie's mother, Hollie Dance, indicated she and his father Paul Battersbee will make an application to the UK's highest court.

She said in a statement: "We continue to be shocked and traumatised by the brutality of the UK courts and the hospital trust.

"Our wishes as parents continue to be trampled on and ignored. We do not understand the urgency and rush to end life-support.

"The hospital trust has at no point given us time to come to terms with what has happened.

"This is no way for a compassionate society to treat a family in our situation. We will continue to fight for Archie."

His mother said he had been "let down" by Britain's healthcare system.

Speaking to media outside the Royal London Hospital, Hollie Dance said: "We made a promise to Archie, we will fight to the end. And Archie's still fighting.

"If tomorrow's the last day then so be it, but we will be applying to the Supreme Court."

Ms Dance said cutting off the life support - scheduled to happen at noon on Tuesday - would not be fair to her son.

She said: "I've got my son's best interests at heart - Paul, and the siblings - nobody else has got Archie's best interests at heart.

"And I say, and I still stand by it, Archie's best interests would be to allow that child time to recover. If he doesn't recover he doesn't recover, but give him time to recover."

"We're UK citizens but we can't - we're not looked after, we're not protected, it's a pretty sad state of affairs.

"In this country there's no options: it's either Archie's conscious or he dies, that's it.

"In other countries there are so many options. You've got ... stem cell treatment, you know, there are so many options available.

"Over in the UK it's ... execution of your child and that's it. It's disgusting, it's a let-down."

Alistair Chesser, Chief Medical Officer for Barts Health NHS Trust, said: "Our heartfelt sympathies and condolences remain with Archie's family at this difficult time.

"We are following the direction of the courts, so no changes will be made to Archie’s care whilst the family appeal to the Supreme Court, though we will prepare to withdraw treatment after mid-day tomorrow unless directed otherwise."

Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee had fought a long legal battle to keep their son's support going but a High Court judge previously ruled it was in his best interests to have it withdrawn.

Archie had suffered brain damage at home in early April, and was found unconscious by his mother with a ligature over his head.

She suspected he might have tried to take part in an online challenge.

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Monday's legal challenge at the Court of Appeal was the parents' final attempt to keep him alive. A temporary "stay" was in place until 1pm.

The parents had hoped the intervention by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities would stop care being withdrawn but the Court of Appeal did not grant an order to keep it going.

His parents had been contacted in writing over the weekend by Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs the Royal London Hospital where Archie has been treated.

In a letter, the trust said ahead of the court hearing: "Our deepest sympathies are with Archie's family at this difficult time.

"We understand a court hearing will take place on Monday morning and we await the outcome.

"The plan to withdraw treatment will proceed unless the court directs otherwise."

Hollie Dance said the family has had "no support whatsoever" from Barts Health NHS Trust, adding: "Absolutely none. I know they come across to the media as supportive and compassionate. It's very much the opposite. It's very misleading."

Ms Dance said she was handed a letter on Saturday night with the "choreographed execution" of Archie.

"There was no meeting, sat down and broken to gently," she said.

Ms Dance said they were handed the letter and "just left to deal with our own feelings".

She added: "It's just caused so much stress. This could have been totally prevented and handled totally different to how it's been handled.

"We shouldn't have been dragged through the courts."

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "We recognise this is an exceptionally difficult time for Archie Battersbee's family and our thoughts are with them.

"The Government asked the High Court to urgently consider the request from the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities."