The parents of Archie Battersbee say they will fight on for his life after a judge ruled that machines keeping him alive should be switched off.
Doctors argued it is futile to carry on treating the 12-year-old after he suffered a catastrophic brain injury when a social media dare apparently went wrong.
His parents Hollie Dance, 46, and Paul Battersbee, 56, have fought a legal battle to keep Archie’s ventilator turned on.
But Mr Justice Hayden, reviewing evidence at a hearing in the High Court in London, ruled that continuing treatment was not in Archie’s best interests.
He said today that medical intervention “serves only to protract his death, whilst being unable to prolong his life”.
Archie’s mum said they would seek to leave to appeal against the decision to give Archie a “planned death”.
She said: “It is not in Archie’s best interests to die.
“‘Planned death’ is another name for euthanasia, which is illegal in this country.
“It is for God to decide what should happen to Archie. As long as Archie is fighting for his life, I cannot betray him. Until Archie gives up, I won’t give up.”
The decision comes after Archie’s parents appealed against an original ruling that he is legally dead.
He was discovered with a dressing gown cord over his head at the family home in Southend, Essex, on April 7.
His mum believes he was participating in an online “blackout challenge” when he accidentally starved his brain of oxygen.
Doctors say Archie, who has been in a coma for 13 weeks, is brain-stem dead.
But Hollie claims he squeezed her hand from his bed at the Royal London Hospital.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “What Archie’s case has shown is that systemic reform is needed to protect the vulnerable and their families in end-of-life matters.”
