Archie Battersbee's parents have submitted an application to the European Court of Human Rights in a bid to postpone the withdrawal of his life support. The 12-year-old has been in a coma since he was found unconscious by his mother in April and is currently being kept alive by a combination of medical interventions, including ventilation and drug treatments, at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London.
His parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, submitted the application to the Strasbourg-based court just a couple of hours before Barts Health NHS Trust was expected to withdraw Archie's life support. On Tuesday evening, Ms Dance said the trust would begin to withdraw the life support at 11am on Wednesday unless the family submitted the application by 9am.
The trust has not commented since the submission to the European Court of Human Rights was made, but it is believed the withdrawal of life support will now be delayed.
