Archie Battersbee's Mum Says He's 'Responding To Music' Following Judge Ruling

Archie was found with a ligature around his neck at his Essex home in April after what his mum believes was an attempt at a viral social media 'blackout challenge'.

Since the incident, the schoolboy has been treated at Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, where he is hooked up to a ventilator.

Archie's mother Hollie Dance, 46, and father Paul Battersbee, 56, are in the process of appealing the judge's recent ruling to give their son more time to recover.

Hollie Dance said that her family had been given a 'glimmer of hope' after noting that the young boy had recently 'responded well to music and smell'.

Speaking to The Mirror, she said: "His blood pressure went up, so we put on a deep-breathing meditation recording and put lavender oil under his nose and within 10 minutes his blood pressure dropped to normal levels.

"It’s a glimmer of hope. He’s in there and he’s going to wake up, he just needs time. All I want is for them to give him time to heal."

Doctors at the Royal London Hospital have previously suggested that it was 'highly likely' Archie was 'brain-stem dead'.

Last Monday, 13 June, Mrs Justice Arbuthnot ruled that Archie 'died at noon on May 31st 2022, which was shortly after the MRI scans taken that day'.

The judge said: "I find that irreversible cessation of brain stem function has been conclusively established.

"I give permission to the medical professionals at the Royal London Hospital to cease to ventilate mechanically Archie Battersbee."

In response to the ruling, Ms Dance said at the time: "I am devastated and extremely disappointed by the judge's ruling after weeks of fighting a legal battle when I wanted to be at my little boy's bedside.

"Basing this judgment on an MRI test and that he is 'likely' to be dead, is not good enough. 

"This is believed to be the first time that someone has been declared 'likely' to be dead based on an MRI test.

"The medical expert opinion presented in court was clear in that the whole concept of 'brain death' is now discredited, and in any event, Archie cannot be reliably diagnosed as brain-dead."

Her statement continued: "I feel sickened that the hospital and the judge have failed to take the wishes of the family into consideration.

"I do not believe Archie has been given enough time."