The mother of a 12-year-old boy with catastrophic brain damage has vowed to fight a high court ruling that her son is dead and his treatment should stop.
Hollie Dance, 46, has rarely left the bedside of her son Archie Battersbee after an accident at their home on 7 April when he was discovered with a ligature over his head.
On Monday Mrs Justice Arbuthnot backed doctors at the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel, east London, who said the boy was “brain-stem dead” and that life-support treatment should end.
Dance, from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, said the last two months had been “torture” but the family were forging ahead with an appeal and believed the judge made “quite a few mistakes” in the case.
Despite the devastating ruling, Dance said she was “not shocked” when the verdict came back as it did, and she her felt the desire and that of Archie’s father, Paul Battersbee, to preserve Archie’s life and give him a chance to recover had not been taken into consideration.
“It was obvious to me that the judge was going to side with the hospital. We have not been allowed to have Archie independently assessed and we did not want the brain stem or MRI test undertaken,” she said. “The guardian who is meant to represent Archie’s best interests was 100% on the hospital’s side and would even sit and eat lunch with the staff. I’m his mother and I want to preserve his life, but our beliefs as a family have not been taken into consideration.
“His heart is still beating and we want treatment to continue. My son hasn’t been given enough time and there have been miracles where people have come back from brain injuries.”
Archie has not regained consciousness after his accident but his mother said he should “100%” be given more time to recover and had shown small signs he was improving.
She said: “Archie should be given a lot longer. There are Covid patients who get six months to a year and are on ventilators struggling for their life. Archie has had eight very short weeks and we have been in and out of court.”
Dance added: “Even in that short time we have most definitely seen little signs that Archie is fighting and his condition is improving. He holds his own blood pressure, he holds his own temperature. And he has been holding my hand. On one occasion he squeezed my two fingers so tight that they went bright red.”
Dance said the impact on the family since her son’s accident had been “emotionally draining” and that she and Archie’s siblings had found it difficult to see the talented gymnast bedridden.
“It’s been a hard two months. He [Archie] has such a good relationship with his older brother Tom who misses him terribly and is always messaging me telling me he’s his best friend and that he would love to hear his voice again,” she said.
“His older sister Lauren is also struggling but she’s dealing with it and has been so helpful in hospital with Archie. His hair has grown since he’s been in bed and she put it up in a topknot. They’ve both been so supportive with all of this. It’s a human right to have a family but the courts are trying to disrupt that.”
She added that it had been an “emotional rollercoaster” and difficult to process everything that had happened.
The cause of Archie’s accident has not yet been determined but Dance suspects her son was copying a challenge he saw on social media and wants to warn parents of the possible dangers.
She said: “I think it is important to say that Archie was copying an online challenge he saw on social media. I think parents need to know about these kinds of things and just how quickly it can change your life.”
Archie’s family are being supported by the Christian Legal Centre in their legal efforts.
Alistair Chesser, the chief medical officer for Barts Health NHS trust, said: “This is a sad and difficult time for Archie’s family and our thoughts and sympathies are with them as they come to terms with what has happened. In line with the guidance issued by the court, our expert clinicians will provide the best possible care while life support is withdrawn. We are also ensuring there is time for the family to decide whether they wish to appeal before any changes to care are made.”
