A coroner stated he seen no evidence that Archie Battersbee was taking part in a viral blackout challenge before he was found unconscious. An inquest into the 12-year-old's tragic death also heard that police have since found messages on the schoolboy's phone suggesting 'very low mood'.
Archie's life-support was removed on August 6 after his parents Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee failed in their bid to overturn a High Court ruling that doctors could lawfully stop his treatment. Medics at at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, deemed Archie brain-stem dead and said continuing life-support was not in his best interests, the Mirror reports.
Ms Dance thinks the youngster may have been trying a TikTok challenge before he was found unresponsive in his room on April 7 this year. However, senior coroner for Essex Lincoln Brookes, chairing a pre-inquest review hearing in Chelmsford on Tuesday, said there was "no evidence at this stage to substantiate the concern".
