12-YO Archie Battersbee Dies After Life Support Is Turned Off | ‘He Fought Right Until the Very End’

Archie Battersbee, the 12-year-old boy who was placed on life support after he suffered a devastating brain injury has died after he was taken off the ventilator. 

He died at 12.15 pm, local time, according to Sky News. During his last moments, his mom, Hollie Dance, stood outside the hospital and said she was "the proudest mum in the world". She added that her son, Archie, was "such a beautiful little boy and he fought right until the very end, and I am so proud to be his mum".

"He was taken off medication at 10am and his stats remained stable until two hours later when they removed the ventilation," said Ella Rose Carter, Archie's eldest brother Tom's fiance said, speaking on behalf of the family.

"There is absolutely nothing dignified about watching a family member or a child suffocate. We hope no family has to go through what we have been through. It's barbaric."

After Archie's death Dance and Carter broke down. They embraced and then made their way back to the hospital. 

Archie was in a coma ever since April after he was found unconscious in his home in Southend, Essex. Apparently, an online challenge was responsible for harming him. He was kept alive with the help of a ventilator for months, and was at the center of a lengthy legal dispute since his parents wanted to keep him alive, but the court had ordered for him to be taken off life support. 

"Members of his family were present at [Archie's] bedside and our thoughts and heartfelt condolences remain with them at this difficult time," Alistair Chesser, chief medical officer at Barts Health NHS Trust said in a statement. "The trust would like to thank the medical, nursing, and support staff in the paediatric intensive care department who looked after Archie following his awful accident.

"They provided high-quality care with extraordinary compassion over several months in often trying and distressing circumstances. This tragic case not only affected the family and his carers but touched the hearts of many across the country."

On June 13, 2022, Justice Arbuthnot announced at the Family Division of the High Court in London, “I find that Archie died at noon on May 31, 2022, which was shortly after the MRI scans taken that day." Permitting medical professionals to stop the life support, he added, "I find that irreversible cessation of brain stem function has been conclusively established."

Earlier, Archie's father, Paul Battersbee had a stroke or a heart attack before the justices rejected the parents' appeal against a decision to turn off his life support. The judges, who were "extremely sympathetic" towards the father were not convinced about Archie's condition.

After the verdict, Andrea Williams, chief executive of a campaign organization called the Christian Legal Center, which is assisting Archie’s parents, said, “I am very disappointed that they have not adjourned this decision given that Mr. Battersbee has been taken to hospital. I’ve been in touch with Archie’s mother – she is disgusted.”

Before Archie's death, Dance spoke about the bond he shared with his older siblings—his brother Tom and his sister Lauren. "Tom started talking to Archie when he was in my belly… their bond grew immediately" she said.

"Archie and Lauren, they're close, too. A solid little family. So yeah, they're both broken. My kids had to stand in court and listen to the words that their brother's dead, I don't know how many times. It's just heartbreaking." 

References:

https://news.sky.com/story/archie-battersbee-12-dies-after-life-support-is-turned-off-12633585

Cover Image Source: GoFundMe | Just for Archie