Hollie Dance, the mother of Archie Battersbee, said their ordeal has been “absolutely heart-breaking” and that she does not believe the hospital will allow them to take him to a hospice to die.
Speaking to Times Radio, she said: “It’s absolutely heart-breaking. It’s really taking its toll.”
Ms Dance added that the family has not been able to have privacy at the hospital, saying: “We can’t even have the chance to be in a room together as a family without nurses.”
“There’s absolutely no privacy, which is why, again, the courts keep going on about this dignified death – why aren’t we allowed to take our child to a hospice and spend his last moments, his last days together privately? Why is the hospital obstructing it?
Asked if they feel the hospital will relent and let them move Archie to a hospice, Ms Dance said: “I don’t think that they will, I think they will do everything they can to stop that.”
On whether this might be because the hospital believes it can give Archie the best care, she said: “They haven’t given Archie any care, so no it’s not.
“They’ve made it very clear that Archie needs to die in this hospital.” Hollie said she is going to “continue to make sure Archie’s name lives on”.
Speaking to Times Radio, she said: “I don’t think any other parent should have to go through this and I’ve said from day one I totally understand and respect that some parents out there might choose to do things differently, and I as a person totally respect other people’s decisions and other people’s views.
“However, this is ours and I know Archie’s there and because of obviously everything that I’ve got evidence-wise and sort of backed up, and things that I’m seeing – Archie progressing on a daily basis – that is why I’ve continued to fight so hard.
“I wouldn’t want any other parents to go through what we’ve gone through, which is why I have tried to highlight quite a lot of subjects since we’ve been here, like the online challenge, and I know that so, so many people have sat their kids down and used Archie’s story to hopefully save their lives.
“So I’m going to continue to make sure Archie’s name lives on. I’m going do everything I can to make sure that parents don’t have to go through this awful situation with the courts.”
Hollie said the UK has treated her son’s injury as “black and white” and she alleged that the wrong MRI scan may have been submitted to the courts during proceedings.
Speaking to Times Radio, Ms Dance said Japan and Italy have offered him stem cell treatment, adding: “We seem to be so behind in our medical stuff over here – it’s just very sort of straightforward, you know.
“It’s a brain injury; they say it’s death. It’s very black and white over here, very cut and sharp.
“Other countries are offering treatment. They said he is a prime candidate for treatment because he’s only 12 years old. He should be given that option to actually take that treatment and I agree he should be given that option.”
“Although Archie’s got 10% necrosis of the brain stem, it’s 5% of the overall brain and although the necrosis is not reversible, the 5% damage to the whole brain is reversible.
“It’s going to come out in the future, and obviously we haven’t had a chance to put none of this forward in the court because we’ve been blocked from speaking.
“But there’s strong, strong doubts that the MRI imaging that was put across into the court was actually Archie’s MRI. The MRI that was put forward had nine bottom teeth – Archie’s got 12. So there’s lots of things that the court hasn’t had the chance to look at because we haven’t been allowed to put any.
Attorney General Suella Braverman said the Archie Battersbee case was an “incredibly heartbreaking situation” but insisted parents had sufficient legal rights and the courts would have looked at the issues “incredibly thoroughly”.
She told Sky News: “I must just put on record my deepest sympathies for the family of Archie Battersbee, I cannot begin to imagine what he and his family have been going through.”
She added: “I think generally, yes, parents do have sufficient rights. The legal presumption is that parents are acting in the best interest of their children until or unless proved otherwise.”
But “in highly complex – both legally and morally – issues like these ones” there were competing factors such as medical opinion.
“That has to be weighed against the parents wishes as well, and many other factors in in these cases.
“These are not straightforward. They’re highly, highly complex matters involving detailed issues of medicine, and medical ethics, as well as the child’s welfare.
“And I have confidence that our courts and our judges will have looked at these issues incredibly thoroughly, incredibly sensitively, and have reached the right decision.”
