Archie, 12, has been kept alive on ventilation and medication since he was found unconscious at his home in Southend, Essex, on April 7. His mother Hollie Dance believes he may have been attempting an online challenge when he suffered brain damage. Doctors were preparing to take his life support off at 11am on Wednesday, but it was postponed pending a decision by the ECtHR after Ms Dance and Archie’s father Paul Battersbee made a last-minute application at a Strasbourg court on 9 in the morning. In a series of cases in the UK’s highest courts, the parents challenged the decision of doctors at the Royal London Hospital, who said it was “highly likely” Archie was brain dead and it was in his best interests to end the support of life. . Archie Battersbee with his mother Hollie Dance (PA) However, shortly after 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday, the ECtHR said it rejected the parents’ request, adding that it would not “interfere with decisions by national courts to allow life-sustaining treatment to be withdrawn from [Archie] to move”. It has not yet been confirmed by Barts Health NHS Trust when life support will be withdrawn. Speaking to reporters outside the Royal London Hospital after the ECtHR’s decision, Ms Dance suggested the legal battle to keep Archie on life support was over. She said she would “not allow” anything to happen to Archie before his father returned to his hospital bed on Thursday and vowed to “fight” to get her son into a hospice. The European court rejected the application of Archie’s parents (Holly Dance/AP) Asked if this defeat was different, Ms Dance said: “It was the end, it was the last thing, wasn’t it, again our country failed a 12-year-old.” In an earlier statement, he called the decision “another shocking development.” In a statement, he said: “The NHS, the government and the courts in this country and in Europe may have abandoned his treatment – but we did not. “The whole system is stacked against us. Reform must now be done through Charlie’s Law so that no parents have to go through this. “In a worst-case scenario, we want to take Archie into a hospice, but the hospital said we can’t do that despite previous promises. Archie Battersbee’s mother Hollie Dance (right) (PA) “We’ve been told all along that this is all about Archie dying with ‘dignity.’ However, we are told that we cannot take him to a hospice where it is quiet and we can spend time with him as a family without the chaos of the hospital. We will fight to the end for Archie’s right to live.” Mrs Dance also reiterated that doctors in Japan and Italy had been contacted about her son’s condition, adding: “Why can’t we give him a chance?” Archie’s family’s application to the ECtHR came after the Court of Appeal ruled that Archie’s treatment should not continue after midday on Tuesday. The High Court upheld its decision on the same day, with judges saying they had “great sympathy” for Archie’s parents but that “there is no prospect of meaningful recovery”. Archie’s parents had applied directly to the High Court – after the Court of Appeal refused to do so. They asked the UK’s highest court to allow his treatment to continue to give the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) time to consider the appeal lodged last week.
