Archie Battersbee is not finally, officially, died Wednesday August 3 at 11 a.m., contrary to what the Royal London Hospital had expected. Since April 7, the 12-year-old boy has been in a deep coma. He is unresponsive, unable to breathe unassisted, and doctors believe he has no hope of recovery. On May 31, the British justice declared him dead, a decision against which his parents, refusing that the hospital disconnect the machines which keep him alive, had appealed.
On Tuesday August 2, the British Supreme Court rejected their request to continue the treatments. On Wednesday, two hours before the scheduled end of the boy’s life, the parents appealed again, this time to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), postponing the fateful deadline. The hospital assures that it will continue the care “until all legal issues are resolved”.
In front of the establishment, Archie’s mother, Hollie Dance, promised on Wednesday to continue the fight. ” I hope [que la CEDH] will step in and give Archie the right to live. (…) I promised Archie, and his father did the same, to fight me until the end. » She claims two countries – Japan and Italy, according to the BBC – have offered to offer treatment. “If this country [le Royaume-Uni] cannot or does not want to treat him, what is the harm in allowing him to go to another country? », she says. The day before, Mr.me Dance had accused on Sky News the hospital of organizing “the choreography of execution” of his son.
A social media challenge
In the photos, Archie is a smiling young blond boy with pale blue eyes. A video shared by his mother shows him training in MMA, this martial art he loved. This seemingly carefree life came to an abrupt halt on April 7. Mme Dance found her unconscious son at her home in Southend-on-Sea, in the east of England. He had choked on something around his neck, according to court documents. According to the mom, Archie would have tried to replicate a challenge on social networks. Three days later, doctors deemed him brain dead.
It was without taking into account the fight of this mother, who has spent most of the last four months at the bedside of her son and who has multiplied the recourse to justice. Contrary to the observations of doctors and nurses, who believe that Archie has no reaction, Mrs.me Dance claims to have felt her son shake her hand on one occasion.
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