Archie Battersbee is 12 years old and has been in a coma since April 7.
Parents of a comatose boy at the center of a battle to keep him alive said Wednesday they had appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. in a last ditch effort to stop a hospital from ending its treatment.
Archie Batterbee12 years, was found unconscious in his home on April 7 with a rope over his head. Her parents believe she was participating in an online challenge that had a tragic end.
Doctors believe Archie has a brain stem death and keeping him alive is not in his best interest.
Hollie Dance, the boy’s mother, at the door of the hospital where he is hospitalized. Photo: AP
His parents, Paul Battersbee and Hollie Dance, unsuccessfully appealed to British courts to block the Royal London Hospital’s decision to disconnect the artificial respirator and stop other treatments that keep him alive.
the dance said it the family’s lawyers have appealed to the European Court based in Strasbourg, France, before the hospital’s scheduled time to begin stopping treatments on Wednesday morning.
The boy has been in a coma since April 7.
He said the family was awaiting the court’s response.
“We hope and pray that the appeal will be welcomed”, the mother said. “We will not surrender to Archie until the end.” She also said the family was considering offers from Japan and Italy to treat Archie.
“There are other countries that want to tackle it and I think it should be allowed,” Dance said.
The child’s parents do not want to disconnect him. Photo: AP
This is the most recent case in which the doctors’ judgment goes against the will of the family. In this and other cases the families have had the support of the Christian Concern religious pressure group.
Under UK law, courts usually intervene in the event of a disagreement between parents and doctors over the treatment of a minor. In these cases the rights of the child take precedence over the parents’ right to decide what they deem most convenient for their children.
Archie Battersbee, in a coma for almost 4 months.
The UK Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Archie “had no significant prospects for recovery” and would die within weeks of heart and other organ failure.
Alistair Chesser, chief executive of the organization that runs the hospital, said Archie’s life support will continue unchanged until legal issues are resolved.
Source: Clarin
