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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Chris Slater

Archie Battersbee has died, his mum has confirmed

Archie Battersbee has died after his life-support was switched off, it has been confirmed. Archie died at 12.15pm this afternoon (Saturday), his mother Hollie Dance said outside the Royal London Hospital.

Speaking through tears she said: "He was taken off medication at 10am, his stats remained stable until two hours later."

"I would just like to say I am the proudest mum in the world," she added. "He was such a beautiful little boy. He fought right until the very end and I am so proud to be his mum."

READ MORE: Archie Battersbee's mum speaks out as final legal appeal rejected

Supporters brought flowers to the hospital on Saturday morning.

The 12-year-old from Southend in Essex has been in a coma since he was found unconscious by his mother following an incident at his home in April.

Hollie Dance (second left) surrounded by family and friends (PA)

He was found to have suffered a catastrophic brain injury. He was being kept alive by a combination of medical interventions, including ventilation and drug treatments.

He has since been the subject of a long-running legal battle over the withdrawal of treatment that included hearings at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, the UK's highest court.

Doctors treating Archie at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London said he was 'brain-stem dead' and that continued life-support treatment was not in his best interests.

Hollie with Archie in hospital (PA)

In recent days his family made bids to the High Court, Court of Appeal and European Court of Human Rights to have him transferred to a hospice insisting they should be allowed to choose where he takes his last moments.

In a High Court ruling on Friday morning, Mrs Justice Theis concluded it was not in Archie's best interests to be moved and the Court of Appeal rejected permission to appeal that decision hours later.

Following the ruling campaign group Christian Concern, which is supporting Archie’s family, said that 'all legal routes have been exhausted'.

The group had argued there had been a violation of articles six and eight of the European Convention on Human Rights. Article six is the right to a fair trial and article eight is the right to respect for private and family life.

Archie has been the subject of a legal battle over his treatment since he was discovered unconscious in April (PA)

The Court of Appeal judges said Mrs Justice Theis' ruling in the High Court dealt 'comprehensively with each of the points raised on behalf of the parents'.

The judges said they had "reached the clear conclusion that each of her decisions was right for the reasons she gave".

In an interview with Sky News on Friday, Ms Dance Dance described herself as 'broken' as she said the hospital had made it clear there were no more options and that life support would be withdrawn at 10am today.

"The last however many weeks since 7th April, I don’t think there’s been a day that hasn’t been awful really," she said, breaking down.

"It’s been really hard," she added. "Despite the hard strong face and appearance obviously in front of the cameras up until now, I’ve been pretty broken."

Asked if there was anything more she could do, Ms Dance said: "No. I’ve done everything that I promised my little boy I’d do. And I’ve done it."

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