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Topics: News
Gregory Robinson
Archie Battersbee's mum has revealed the words she told her son after receiving the news that she would be able to appeal the court's decision regarding his life support treatment.
On Tuesday (20 June) Archie's family won the right to appeal the decision by a High Court judge to switch off the 12-year-old's life support system.
The decision was made last week after it was ruled that it was 'highly likely' the he was 'brain-stem dead' and therefore had little to no chance of recovery.
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However, his parents can now take the case to the Court of Appeal after Mrs Justice Arbuthnot ruled that they can contest last week’s decision.
Archie's mum, Hollie Dance, shared the positive news with her son, who is in an induced coma. Speaking to The Mirror, she revealed: “I’m so relieved that someone is giving him a chance.
"That’s all we ever wanted, more time to heal. I’m so emotional. I watched it from Archie’s bedside – I made sure he couldn’t hear or see it but I was with him through it.
“When it finished I held his hand and told him he had been given 'more time'. I can’t stress this enough, if a parent doesn’t want to hold on to hope or they believe it’s not in their child’s best interest, that’s absolutely fine.
“But I won’t give up hope and it should be a parent’s decision.”
She added: "His heart is still beating, he has gripped my hand, and as his mother and by my mother's instinct, I know my son is still there."
Dance found her son unconscious at home in Southend-on-Sea, Essex on 7 April, and it has been speculated that he may have been participating in a dangerous online ‘blackout’ challenge. He is currently being treated at the Royal London Hospital.
The family's barrister, Edward Devereux QC, argued that the decision to switch off Archie's life support could not be taken unless doctors are sure beyond all reasonable doubt that he is brain dead, Sky News reports.
The judge initially concluded on doctors’ advice that the 12-year-old had 'died at noon on May 31, 2022'.
Judge Arbuthnot said in her ruling: "I give permission to the medical professionals at the Royal London Hospital to cease to ventilate mechanically Archie Battersbee."
Dance and Archie's dad Paul Battersbee immediately announced their plans to contest the decision last week, claiming that they have seen signs that their son is improving.