Family Of Archie Battersbee Given Right To Appeal Life Support Ruling

Archie Battersbee’s family have won the right to appeal the decision of a High Court to switch off his life support system.

The decision was made last week after it was ruled that it was 'highly likely' the 12-year-old was 'brain-stem dead' and therefore had little to no chance of recovery. 

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, the BBC has reported.

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Hollie Dance and dad Paul Battersbee found their son unconscious at home on April 7, and it has been speculated that he was 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.

Last week's decision to stop treating the 12-year-old was been made on the balance of probabilities.

Alamy.

The BBC reports that the hospital said that they will not be making any decisions about his care while his parents appeal last week’s ruling. 

The judge initially concluded on doctors’ advice that the 12-year-old had "died at noon on May 31, 2022".

Arbuthnot said in her ruling: "I give permission to the medical professionals at the Royal London Hospital to cease to ventilate mechanically Archie Battersbee."

His parents immediately announced their plans to contest the decision last week, claiming that they have seen signs that their son is improving. 

Archie's mum Hollie told The Guardian: "Archie should be given a lot longer. There are Covid patients who get six months to a year and are on ventilators struggling for their life. Archie has had eight very short weeks and we have been in and out of court."

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She explained that her son is responding to music, which would not be possible if he was brain-stem dead, as doctors speculated as “highly likely”. 

In another interview with The Mirror, Hollie added: "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."