Archie Battersbee's Mum Says Hospital 'Went Back On Their Word' With Hospice Move
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The mother of Archie Battersbee has said the hospital caring for her son 'went back on their word' regarding hospice care for her son.
On Wednesday (3 August), the 12-year-old's family were delivered the heartbreaking news that his life support will be switched off despite their last-minute appeal.
Doctors at The Royal London hospital said Archie was brain stem dead and a High Court judge ruled that switching off the support was in his best interests. However, Archie's mum Hollie Dance wanted to give him more time.
Ms Dance previously said that to take Archie to a hospice would be a 'worst case scenario' and that the hospital had denied the family's request to move Archie there for his final days.
In a new interview with Times Radio this morning, Ms Dance said that the hospital previously told the family they would be able to move Archie to a hospice but then they 'just totally went back on their word'.
She said: “Hospital are obviously coming across to everybody you know – their deepest thoughts are with the family and everything they can do to etc, etc."
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The heartbroken mum went on to describe the situation as 'high-pressured' as she explained how the last few days have unfolded: “This really isn’t the case and I think that the letter that went out quite sort of late yesterday evening saying that just again, a bit of a blackmailing letter, you know: ‘You’ve got till nine o’clock’, leaving the lawyers again under pressure, which is what this hospital has done from day one of being here really. Everything’s just been so high-pressured."
On Tuesday (2 August) Ms Dance revealed that her son's life support was set to be turned at 11.00am the next day after attempting to overturn the High Court's ruling that further treatment would be futile.
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Ms Dance and Archie’s dad, Paul Battersbee then submitted an application to the European Court of Human Rights in a bid to postpone the withdrawal of his life support.
The lawyers representing Archie’s parents were given a deadline of 9.00am on Wednesday to submit the application to secure more time for their son.
Archie has not woken up from a coma after he was discovered unconscious by his mum in their home in Southend, Essex, in April.
It is believed that Archie was taking part in an online challenge when he was injured, however this is still under investigation.
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