Archie Battersbee’s mum shares video ‘proving brain-damaged son, 12, is trying to breathe on his own’ amid legal battle
VIDEO footage of Archie Battersbee allegedly trying to breathe on his own has been released by his desperate mum amid the heartbreaking legal battle over his life support.
Hollie Dance, mother of the hospitalised 12-year-old, claims the clip proves her son could breathe without his respirator in time.
The 46-year-old has been locked in a furious fight with judges who ruled that Archie can be disconnected from the machines keeping him alive.
Now the family’s lawyers want to submit the video as “new evidence” to appeal the decision through the European Court of Human Rights.
In the footage, an emergency room monitor shows Archie’s respiratory rate, which is set by the ventilator, rise momentarily from 14 to 15.
A diagram of a pair of lungs also flashes up during the clip – sometimes an indicator the patient has managed to take a breath on their own.
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But doctors have said that Archie is brain-stem dead and will not be able to wake up.
The boy was found unresponsive with a ligature around his neck at his home in Southend in April.
The court heard that he had having allegedly taken part in a social media trend called the “blackout challenge”.
The lad was rushed to hospital and now remains on life-support at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London.
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To add to the family’s distress, Archie’s dad Paul Battersbee was taken to hospital yesterday morning following a suspected stroke or heart attack.
The family’s lawyer asked the Court of Appeal judges to delay their ruling but their request was refused.
Hollie slammed the decision to refuse a delay as “insensitive” and has vowed to keep fighting for her son.
She previously said: “As long as Archie is fighting for his life, I cannot betray him. Until Archie gives up, I won’t give up.
“I am living every parent’s worst nightmare. There must be change in the NHS and in the court system before another family has to go through what we have.”
The mum is adamant to appeal the judges decision today to stop the lad’s life support.
Sir Andrew McFarlane, the president of the Family Division of the High Court, and two others handled the appeal and heard arguments about what moves are in Archie’s best interests.
They heard that medical staff had seen “no signs of life” in Archie.
Sir Andrew referred to a photograph of Archie taken prior to the accident during the widespread media coverage of the legal battle.
“Archie is no longer the boy in the photograph,” he said.
“He is someone whose every bodily function is now maintained by artificial means.”
He added that the challenge by Archie’s parents had no “reasonable prospect” of success.
Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Jackson said they agreed.
